Celestial Being
by divineamaterasu
Summary: Aria was a normal girl in a world of seemingly normal people. It isn't until a certain group of people break into a museum that Aria gets the awakening of a life time. Wanting to see this Prime they speak of, the surprises aren't about end. OC/OP. Editing
1. The Cobra Commander

This is edited from the orginal. For those who may be re-reading I hope this makes more sense! For those who have not, enjoy anyways!

This story is a Optimus/OC romance.

Comments are loved, and reviews even more so. :)

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Aria was an underachiever with big dreams. She had it all figured out, living the rich life wearing fancy clothing, expensive shoes, and designer lap coats. She was going to work at the Washington D.C. Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.

But that was years ago, and things didn't turn out as planned. Well except one, she did in fact work at the museum. Just didn't quite have the right job yet. Instead of fancy clothing, she wore a gray set of overalls; and her rubber boots were in fact expensive. As for the lab coat, well she didn't have an equivalent, but she did have a mop.

She was the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center's head janitor. Talk about bragging rights.

The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center or SFUHC was a newer extension of the Air and Space Museum filled with 163 different kinds of aircraft and 154 space artefacts. Aria's personal favourites in the collection were the Redstone rocket and the Space Shuttle Enterprise. She was after all, an astronomy major. Anything to do with space she enjoyed, and because she loved talking about said subject, she thought a Space museum would be her best bet. Fortunately she was hired, unfortunately it was to be a janitor. At least after a year of hard work and old janitors retiring, she had become the cobra commander, at least in term of janitors.

She was putting her long black hair in a loopy ponytail and pinning her chin length bangs back. Zipping up the top half of her esteemed gray jumpsuit over her now provocatively hiked up summer dress. Aria knew the nice weather wouldn't last much longer so she wore all the dresses she could while she could. She walked out of the woman's bathroom and turned to get her cleaning cart. Upon doing so she nearly tripped over Bill, the security guard who at the moment was unnaturally twitching on the floor.

Aria leaned over to get a closer look at his face , furrowing her dark eyebrows she whispered to him "…Bill? What are you doing?"

In response he started to jerk his eyes to the men's washroom door looking back and forth between her and the washroom. Figuring something must have been terribly wrong for him to be acting in such a manner, she did something she had never dared to do before. For the first time in the twenty four year olds life, she entered a men's washroom.

On the floor the janitor found four other twitching, huffing and distressed looking security guards. Needless to say she backed out slowly, her eyes wide. Something was defiantly wrong here. Aria continued backing up until she tripped over Bill falling flat on her back partially on top of him.

She was blowing the stay bangs off her face when she heard a faint buzzing sound and distant panicked voices. Fight or flight instincts kicking in, Aria momentarily contemplated her options: Run like a little girl, or find out what was going on. The latter of course won as Aria stood up, sending Bill an apologetic look. She then started to stealthily run towards the ensuing action. Their voices indicated they were heading towards the SR-71 Blackbird as far as Aria could tell. The Blackbird was the weirdest display the museum had, at least in her opinion. As if whenever she was near it she felt a presence. Only about after about a week of feeling this anomaly she had decided that it was haunted, and had since avoided it like the plague.

Catching up to the voices, she discovered the source of the buzzing noise: a toy monster truck. The voices turned out to be four people, one of which was a girl, the other three were boys. The group suddenly stopped in front of the Blackbird, while Aria had to stop and backpedal behind a nearby plane. As she ducked, she witnessed something she would never forget as the small toy truck reformed itself into a robot, a moving, talking robot. As if it were human.

In her total awe, she hardly listened to what it was talking about. Aria loved science and would definitely know if a robot like that existed, and as far as she knew, none did. There was no way anyone on Earth could have created something that could transform like that, let alone talk like it had its own mind.

Aria's thoughts were interrupted when she saw something flash as it flew towards the Blackbird sending pulses of what she could only assume by the feeling, was energy. The girl closely followed by the boy, ran under the Jet's fuselage where that weird face looking symbol she noticed almost a year ago was. Next thing she knew, the girl was yelling something about it being a Decepticon.

What the hell is a Decepticon? Aria had no idea, but abruptly stopped thinking about it when the Blackbird started moving on its own accord. Parts started noisily rearranging as arms and legs formed. It then started coughing, trying to stand up while still transforming.

The Blackbird was standing. Aria knew they weren't supposed to do that. All sorts of mental alarms where going off in her mind, none of this was even possible.

It was when the Blackbird started yelling after the hiding people and smashing the overhanging planes that she felt herself going into shock. Who were these people and why is the Blackbird yelling at them?

"Behold, the eternal glory of Jetfire!" Was the first thing she managed comprehend. It had a name? It couldn't, and if it did, it would be Blackbird. The dumb haunted Blackbird didn't even know what it was. It was a SR 71 Blackbird, not some giant old looking robot with a Scottish accent.

Aria could vaguely hear the much smaller robot make a comment on the Blackbird's age, which even she could tell, looked pretty old. The thing was hunched over using the biggest cane she had ever seen to make its way to the steel doors that were used to move large air and space craft in and out. It pointed a mechanical arm at the doors, commanding them to open. When they didn't, it changed tactics and yelled fire. Nothing happened.

Getting angry, well it was already angry. Getting frustrated it yelled fire again and this time a missile shot from its arm pointed at the steel door, and hit a hanging plan some ways behind the old Blackbird. Aria jumped about six feet in the air at the noise, and another twelve when it exploded. Why it shot backwards, she had no clue. Frankly, she didn't care, all she wanted was to live. The giant robot then resorted to swearing and smashing the doors down and wandering outside still yammering on while the people where yelling and running to catch up to it. At first Aria thought of running the opposite direction towards safety, but curiosity got the better of her. She wanted to live, but she wanted to know more about the huge robot more. So instead of running away like a normal human being, she followed the small group after it. Aria also knew that like her, the people's attention were solely on the bickering robot tearing wings off airplanes as it walked past – or rather through them, so she didn't worry about the people noticing her jogging meters behind them.

Suddenly a yellow Camero and two other smaller cars, one red and one green, came skidding in out of nowhere while the people managed to focus the fifty foot robots attention enough to keep him stationary. Aria took this as her queue to again hide behind a nearby plane only meters behind the small group. The old Blackbird started going on about a mission then abruptly asked the people what planet he was and, when one of the younger boys told it this was Earth, the robot leaned in and told him that was a terrible name, resembling dirt "planet Dirt," It emphasized.

It had quite the personality, like a senile and grumpy old man. That presence she had always felt made so much more sense now. The Blackbird wasn't haunted, it was alive. It was a functioning robot with its own thoughts and feelings. The main question on her mind was where it could have come from. Aria was even more convinced that no one could have built it.

The old robot then changed the subject to something about a robot civil war. Aria's mind was trying to decode what it was saying. War needs more than two robots, where there more? She hoped he was just crazy. But to her horror the same boy answered, Decepticons. She didn't know who or what that was; but the fact a young boy answered was not a good one. Next thing she knew the robot started talking about Autobots, and how switching sides was an "intensely personal decision" The destroying the Universe thing told her that Decepticons where not the good guys or robots, aliens, cats, whatever.

The little robot apparently didn't know changing sides was possible and said he also wanted to, proceeding to hump the attractive girls leg before the young boy kicked him off of her. They turned their attention back to the giant robot asking about what he was saying, in response he almost literally, blew up in their faces yelling his name again and foe them to stop judging him. He then went on about problems starting with his mother and his ancestors being here for centuries. His father was the first wheel but didn't transform into anything, and did so with honour and dignity. Did he realize he wasn't making any sense? Probably not.

Just then a parachute then flew out of his robot behind successfully sending him flat on his back like Aria mere minutes ago. The group of people ran up to the fallen Blackbird as he punched the ground stating his boosters where fried. The boy then made a proposition to the giant robot, though Aria couldn't hear well due to the giant old coot between them. She watched as the robot, Jetfire got up and the young boy started carving something into the ground with a knife. He was damn lucky she wasn't in charge of the lawn anymore.

After he told Jetfire that the symbols he was carving into the ground where stuck in his head, and someone named Mega something rather and "the Fallen" want what's in his mind. Now she really wanted to know what he was carving. So she crept up as close as she could without being seen by human or robot. Old man Blackbird started again after the boy's mention of the Fallen. She tried to listen to what he was saying, but he might as well have been speaking a foreign language. Apocalypse, chaos, mission, the Fallen's search, Dagger's tip, a key, hold on.

What? Hold on, why are we holding on?

Aria felt electricity through her body as a blinding white light came towards her. She finally let out a scream when she could see nothing and feel only weightlessness and siring pain.

Next thing the janitor could feel was being thrown high into the air, coming down and then darkness.

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	2. Behold, the glory

Edited.

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Opening her eyes the janitor saw nothing but darkness. Quickly realizing that it was no need to panic, she used her hand to brush the thick mass of hair out of her eyes and face. Its usual black color reviled its true auburn undertones in the natural light. Aria was then greeted by blinding sunlight and vast amounts of sand blowing all around her in all seemingly different directions. "What the hell?" she mumbled propping herself up with an elbow. There were defiantly no deserts in her bedroom, or Washington for that fact.

Proceeding to roll back into a starfish position she contemplated where she could possibly be, and more impotently why. It wasn't until she heard an engine and saw a bright yellow Camero drive past followed by two smaller red and green cars, did it all come back to her. Bill convulsing on the ground, the toy truck transforming, the Blackbird smashing things, the white light. Aria furrowed her eyebrows, maybe she should have held on to something.

In the process of standing up Aria made the realization that it was very hot. And since she was the kind of person who was always cold, she knew what real heat was. She rolled up the sleeves of her respected uniform and undid the zipper low enough to air out her neck. Now would be a good time to find out where exactly she was.

After about a minute of helplessly sauntering, she heard familiar babbling and looked up to the source of the noise. There sitting up on a pile of flattened, sand covered rocks, sat a certain aircraft missing from a certain museum. Seeing as the thing hadn't spotted her, she began scaling the rocks up to its perch at the top. Not an easy feat, but the janitor made it thanks to her excellent mopping muscles. Aria wondered who the old robot was talking to, seeming as all the people left with their cars a while ago. Peeking over the edge her musing was confirmed, the SR-71 Blackbird was actually talking to himself. Aria turned around again so her back was pressing against the ledge she had been peaking over.

This was not going to be easy. What was she suppose to say? The giant robot looking thing was obviously not mentally stable, not to mention the fact he could easily squish her without so much as noticing. Talking to the Blackbird seemed more like taking her life in her own hands then having a constructive conversation.

Taking the largest deep shaky breaths she could, Aria finally talked herself into doing it, asking the giant robot where she was. And come on, if some kids could do it, why not her. So with her Cortisol levels at an all time high, she hiked herself up the final ledge.

Jumping up into a standing position, Aria faced the robot who had jumped slightly at her sudden entrance. Aria not knowing what else to do, was about to wave at the old robot and say hello. Unfortunately the Blackbird beat her to it and leaned in inches from her face. "Who're you?" he literally spat at her.

Aria however jumped backwards at the sudden movement into her personal space, heart skipping about five beats, she managed to trip and fall backwards. The old robot responded by leaning even closer yet.

"I-I'm a Janitor." She managed to reply, "Who are you?" she added quickly.

The Blackbird tilted his head making his long metal beard like things screech against the rock. "A janitor? That's a strange name for a fleshling!" He blinked his weird red glowing eyes and jabbed her rather painfully with a pointy metallic finger.

"W-well actually my name is –" Aria shuddered, but already lost the coot's attention.

"You fleshling's can hardly talk!" he exclaimed "So quiet and jittery like little insects! Fleshy insects." He repeated and jabbed her yet again. "You're lucky I changed sides to the Autobots, or I would have squished you by now! Then again your disgusting life fluids might rust my foot, and I'm falling apart as it is without your help! Are you listening to what I'm saying! I am Jetfire damn it!"

Aria however had become aware of an incoming plane, not an ordinary plane though, a very old biplane. One that looked much older than even Jetfire and his evidently apparent "eternal glory". As the old bi- winged plane neared Aria and Jetfire's location, its engine started sputtering and it crashed right into the side of the rocks they were standing on.

If Aria wasn't already confused and concerned enough, Jetfire started yelling at it. Aria then heard more bickering, that was surprisingly not coming from Jetfire, but someone else. All of a sudden another old man looking robot with red eyes and two long wings still intact behind his shoulders jumped up onto the ledge they were standing on. "Jetfire!" It yelled through missing teeth looking plates. "You yellow bellied traitor, I'm going to kill you!"

"You couldn't kill a fleshling if your life depended on it Ransack!" Jetfire hollered back. The smaller robot responded by shooting a missile from his arm which merely bounced of the layers of Jetfire's armour. He laughed while the other roared in rage and ran at him.

All the meanwhile Aria was having a screaming fit while running around trying to avoid the giant feet. This couldn't be happening. She was going to be squished in some desert by two giant and equally ancient robots. Finally running to far side of the fattened rock they fought on, she jumped down to a lower ledge. She could barely hear them fighting over the sound of her wild heartbeat. She could see her chest moving her heart was beating so hard. Turning around she peered over the edge just as Jetfire had thrown his opponent to the ground and stepped on his head. Blackbird wasn't kidding about the squishing thing. The old robot then proceeded to kick the giant metallic corpse of the side of the rocks, muttering something about its mother.

"Where did you go little fleshling!" it hollered looking around "I didn't step on you did I?" Aria took that as her queue and again, much slower this time, climbed up to meet the old metal codger. "Now as I was saying," it started, "the Matrix is the key to the Energon collection machine. But it may also work to bring back the Prime who is the only one that can kill the Fallen. But you must hurry, or it will be too late! And your sun will be no more!"

The old coot, poor thing probably didn't even know what was going on. "What are you talking about? You haven't mentioned anything about Primes, suns, or machines." She made sure she spoke up, she saw what it did to that other robot, she knew better than to act anymore incest like.

"Hmmm?" the fifty foot robot looked around, "Where did the other fleshlings go?" It looked genuinely confused scratching its metal head causing sparks.

"They left awhile ago, remember?" She looked up at the Blackbird raising her eyebrows. "I came after." She waited for it to catch on, eyebrows still high and an optimistic smile on her bowed lips. Maybe it wasn't that scary.

Jetfire however didn't seem to like her attitude. It quickly leaned in, again popping her personal bubble. "Don't talk to me like a child!" the robot spat. Aria once more fell on her butt in shock, whipping the robot equivalent of spit off her face. "Do you know who I am!"

Oh god, she thought. Never mind about the scary thing, the Blackbird was too unpredictable to draw any conclusions yet.

"I am Jetfire!"

Giant robot or not, it was a bit repetitive.

"Yes yes, behold the glory of Jetfire." She stated defeated. "Now can you please tell me where I am?"

"That's better! Some respect for once." The metal codger mumbled something about back in its day while standing up giving her some space. "We're in Egypt! Don't you know anything?"

The janitor wasn't expecting that one. "What? Why Egypt? So you just decide to do some weird light thing and drag everyone with you? I can't speak Egyptian! And I'm thirsty!" She was horrified, and once again forgot how to breathe. How could the talking Blackbird teleport across the world? That kind of technology was far beyond the grasp of the entire human civilization.

Jetfire looked angry once again. "I told you why! You have to finish my mission and find the key past the doorway! Save Prime and your planet before the Fallen destroys it!" The Blackbird was getting himself worked up again. Either the old coot was totally nuts, or six and a half billion people had a serious problem.

"Ok, uh Jetfire. I still don't know what you're talking about. Can you please tell me everything from the beginning?" Aria practically begged. She knew she had to get to the bottom of this, no matter how crazy it might sound coming from a fifty foot senile robot.

Aria felt a rush of air blow past her as Jetfire not so gracefully sat down on its giant robotic butt. "Alright fleshling, you want a story told from the glorious Jetfire himself in all his eternal glory, do you?" He leaned closer as the Janitor sighed exasperated.

"Yes I would love to hear a story." She was getting a little impatient with his high and mighty attitude. But to her surprise, the Blackbird finally relaxed and began its story.

"We are originally from the planet Cybertron, though it was destroyed centuries ago." It sighed." I was once a great Decepticon seeker. It was the seekers job to find planets to build machines called Star Harvesters, to collect Energon by destroying suns! The only rule was that we could not destroy any suns that supported life. The ancient Primes converted the destroyed suns into Energon to refuel our beloved Allspark. The Allspark being the creator of our kind, without its Energon, we will all die, much like my wretched self!" Jetfire slammed his equivalent of a cane to the ground, successfully scaring the poor little janitor to death. "One of the Primes however, betrayed the others and built a Star Harvester on this very planet! The other Primes couldn't defeat him, but they did manage to take the key and hide it in a tomb made of their very own bodies." To say he looked a little put off would be an understatement. "The Prime who betrayed them came to be known as "the Fallen". The sitting robot leaned down closer to her looking for some sort of reaction.

"So you're saying there's a machine here that can blow up our sun? When did this all happen?" Fear was written all over her face. How could they hide a machine with that kind of power? It must be something spectacular to have the ability to destroy a sun.

Jetfire looked up contemplating. "17 000 BC in this planets time I believe."

Before he could continue Aria interrupted, "So why now all of a sudden are we worried about it? And why do those kids have to find the key? Are they trying to start that machine and kill us all?" Now she was getting worked up. Why would these people want to do that? Where they Decepticons or something?

"No no no, you've got it all wrong!" Jetfire hollered, waving his giant metal hand in front of him for emphasis. "Don't you fleshlings listen? The Fallen is back, and only a Prime can defeat him! You need the key to bring back the Prime, or your world will be no more!" Once again his cane smashed against the ground, but this time because the old coot dropped it. "Bullocks!" He shouted, reaching to pick it up.

Aria was finally starting to make sense of what the Blackbird was talking about. The evil robot wanted the energy that the machine collected by destroying their sun. And the people wanted the key to the machine, not to start it, but to bring back the Prime to kill the evil robot and save the world. How terribly cliché. The janitor wouldn't have believed it, if she hadn't been told this by a towering alien robot himself.

By now the sky was darkening while dehydration and tiredness were setting in. Aria adjusted her legs to allow better circulation. Jetfire was bickering to himself again and her brain hurt far too much to attempt to listen to his incoherent blabbering. Aria rested her head on her shoulder as she continued to watch the Blackbirds over exaggerated mannerisms.

The fifty foot alien robot was pacing back and forth waving his arms in the air yammering on about some Matrix of Leadership, earning it not finding it, and so on. Aria's eyes began to get heavy and subconsciously she slowly leaned over to lie on the ground still observing the robot.

The last thing she remembered seeing was the robot notice her, leaning in and muttering something about pathetic human stasis.

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	3. His Sacrifice

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Once again Aria awoke confused and disorientated. At least this time her memory came back a lot faster. She was in Egypt with grandpa Blackbird. The sun was already high above her, beating down mercilessly on her exposed arms, face and neck. Aria had never felt so thirsty in her life, she could feel her lips were severely chapped, and her mouth was equally as dry.

The janitor propped herself up on her elbow and looked for the old codger.

He was nowhere to be seen.

Feeling panic set in, Aria shot up to look all around her. Still nowhere. Now she could feel her heart beating faster now, that dumb old robot had left her alone in the middle of an Egyptian desert. No food, no water, nothing.

Now standing up Aria jogged over to the edge of the rocks, maybe he fell of the side during one of his intrapersonal conversations. She couldn't help but laugh at the mental picture. As she was nearing the edge, Aria felt herself slip on something.

She screeched as she felt herself falling over the edge. It seemed everything was happening in slow motion, she couldn't feel a thing but she saw her body flail as she hit various rocks on the way down. Aria saw the ground coming, but everything went black, she knew she made contact. Guess that was karma.

When Aria's sight returned, she was looking at sand. And when feeling returned, she could tell she was lying face down in an awkward position. Luckily she was flexible. Nothing felt broken either, thank god. Shakily, Aria got up on all fours. She could feel there was going to be some major bruising. Sand scratched her tender skin as she tried to wipe it from her face and lips.

Looking up, Aria was nothing less than astonished that she wasn't dead. It seemed she was able to avoid all the sharp edges that jetted out all over the sides of the rocks. Now she was curious about what she slipped on in the first place. Aria pulled off her left black rubber boot and examined its sole while sand poured out from the inside. The substance was dark and rather viscous. Like oil but not quite. It was probably the same liquid that dripped from the old Blackbird whenever he moved, or talked for that matter. Aria assumed though that the sand would have absorbed it all, was she that blind not to notice?

It wasn't until Aria pulled off the other boot that she realized she wasn't as lucky as she had originally thought. There was a long superficial scrape on her right elbow that almost reached down to her wrist. She wouldn't have noticed if it hadn't been for the blood starting to soak her jumpsuit and run down her hand. After she pulled of her other boot and socks, she raised her arm to get a better look. It was a pretty gross mix of blood, small rocks and sand. Aria made a perturbed face as she went to pull out the biggest piece of rock, gasping at the pain as she did so. At least she would die of dehydration before having to worry about the pain of infection.

"Might as well get my tan on," Aria grumbled. True she was fair skinned, but why not look nice for the search and rescue. Even though she doubted they'd find her for another six thousand years. Regardless of the sate of her dead body they would find her, it was too hot to wear unnecessary clothing.

She pulled off the sweaty and newly torn jumpsuit revealing the simple white dress she wore underneath. It had a wide neckline and was quite baggy on the top, but under the thin pale brown bow secured around her waist, the dress became more form fitting ending half way down her thighs. Aria was thankful the material was fairly sheer, so the breeze could thoroughly cool her down. Although it was her favourite dress, and she didn't really want to get blood on it. She guessed this wasn't really the time to be caring. Not bothering to put the sweaty boots back on, Aria began her search for water leaving her esteemed uniform behind.

Aria lost count of the amount of mirages she saw. She had been searching for what could have been hours, only have found a small puddle of water a short while ago. After re-securing most of her hair in a dishevelled ponytail, she practically dove face first into the inch of murky water. It was incredibly gross tasting, but Aria could have cared less.

She was now currently sitting about a kilometre from the rocks she fell off of. Aria couldn't bring herself to venture any further in case the stupid old coot remembered he left her there and came back to take her home. Or anywhere with water in that case.

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The sun was now far on the west side of the sky, and Aria's shadow grew long. It was then the still stationary girl heard it. The sound of a jet flying overhead, sure enough there it was. To Aria's dismay it wasn't a Blackbird though, it was an F 22 Raptor. Why there was one of those flying over the Egyptian desert, Aria had no clue.

Unless it had to do with the star harvesting machine. Aria felt her heart sink as it filled with hopelessness. She wasn't the only one about to die. Those kids wouldn't be able to do anything, finding the key seemed impossible alone. Was Jetfire aware with the vastness of the desert?

While Aria was thinking of the end of the earth as she knew it, she was unaware of a second jet coming from the same direction as the Raptor. It wasn't until Aria felt the rumble of a huge impact that she jumped a mile and looked for the source of the sudden commotion.

There one hundred feet to her right, was a towering cloud of dust and sand. Out of it came a fifty foot senile talking Blackbird.

Aria wanted to be angry at the old codger, but relief and happiness where the only emotions that registered. She ran up to the confused looking alien robot. He was gawking up at the rocks that he perched on the day before, scratching his head. He didn't acknowledge the young fleshling yelling at him until he turned and almost stepped on her.

Letting out a scream, Aria turned and ran the opposite direction fearing for her life. This is what bugs must feel like.

"Where are you going fleshling?" He yelled back at her. The next thing Aria knew, she was being harshly lifted into the air. She flailed her arms and legs screaming, her throat was getting painful.

"Stop that squawking!" The old robot spat, bringing Aria to his face. She decided to comply with his angry demand. "Now are you coming to see the great Prime, or not?" He asked.

"Wait wait wait! Where where you?" Aria wanted some answers before they went anywhere.

Jetfire's face grew angry. "I told you already! I went to go look for Prime, but just as I was making headway, I realized that I had forgotten you! Don't you remember anything?" That sounded a lot like a rhetorical question.

Aria wiped the robot spit from her face. Now the old coot was really losing it, if he told her he was leaving, he would have brought her along. He had clearly forgotten about her until after he had left. She attempted to reason with the Blackbird. "But you-"

"Don't you start with me, fleshling!" He interrupted, shaking her. "Now are you coming to see the Prime or not?" Grandpa was getting impatient. Aria was feeling motion sick.

Well did she want to slowly die in the desert, or get teleported to some other place that could be full of alien robots? Defeated, Aria said yes. Anything seemed better than dying at the moment.

Before she even knew what was happening, she heard the sound of pneumatics and shifting metal and felt the hand let go as she dropped into a seat, everything still moving around her. A seatbelt strapped her into position.

Aria was vocalizing her discomfort with episodic screaming. As the sound came to a stop, Aria realized she was sitting in a cockpit literally surrounded by hundreds of buttons, knobs and gages. Seeing the lever on her right start moving forward, her heart was not about to slow down.

Didn't people train years for this? She was fine with stationary jets, but she had never so much as looked inside one unless it was on display. This however, was crazy. Aria was at least relieved to see an oxygen mask, and hastily tried to put in on. She could hear and feel the jet engines come to life. This was unreal.

Now the lever moved forward into the half way position, and the Blackbird started to pick up speed.

"Oh my god." Aria continued to repeat frantically to herself, this couldn't be happening. Could jets even take off in the sand?

Aria's question was answered when the lever suddenly slid the rest of the way forward. The Blackbird that Aria didn't even think could fly, was about to take off. She felt it, or rather him, go faster and faster. The bumps got harder until Aria could feel the plain leave the grown then hit it again. She was going to die before her twenty fifth birthday.

And there was the weightless sensation she feared. The Blackbird was now fully in air and continuing to climb, increasing speed. The janitor could already feel herself start to black out from the g forces caused by the ridiculous speed. Her vision wavered as she struggled to breath. Never has she been so scared in her life.

It seemed every time she went unconscious, it lasted longer and longer; until finally her body could take it no more.

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Although Aria's eyes were still closed, she had regained consciousness and could feel Jetfire descending. Deciding to open her eyes, the janitor quickly regretted it. They were heading straight into a war zone.

Aria couldn't hear anything over the jet engine but she could sure see the bullets flying, clouds of sand and smoke and giant metallic aliens everywhere. Maybe she should have chose dehydration.

Before Aria could contemplate her death further, grandpa Blackbird shouted "incoming!"

For the second time that day Aria felt herself falling. The seat seemed to have disappeared as fast as the seat belt came undone; the cockpit came apart before her eyes and next thing she knew, she was in a giant hand still traveling at break neck speeds. The ground was coming closer and closer and she felt the jolt of impact. However the old codger must have rolled because at one point Aria was upside down before he let go.

Aria barrow rolled in the sand about seven times before her body came to a stop. The scrape on her arm felt like fire as she slowly got up. When she examined it, she saw it was bleeding again, and if possible was filled with more sand than before. She grimaced and decided to wipe the sand off her lips instead, unfortunately they were so chapped the sand stuck in the peeling skin.

Looking for Jetfire, Aria saw he was already fighting another much smaller robot. Well not really, it was already in two pieces. The old Blackbird then had another under his foot and yelled something at it, however Aria couldn't hear over the constant gunfire. Suddenly there was sand barrowing up as if something was under it, and sure enough, another odd looking robot came flying out of the ground as Jetfire killed the other red eyed alien.

Aria screamed as it went straight for Jetfire. It caught him around the middle and proceeded to drill straight through. What the hell was she going to do if he died?

"Jetfire!" She screamed again as the scorpion looking robot came after him a second time. The old Blackbird pulled it out along with most of his chest and fell over. He punched its head which splattered weird fluid all over.

Before Aria realized her legs were moving, she was half way to Jetfire. The janitor noticed a group of soldiers running away from a cloud of orange smoke and could have sworn she saw the boy and girl from the museum.

"Hey, Jetfire! What's going-" before Aria could finish she looked up to see planes dropping something eerily like bombs just overhead. Her eyes widened as everything went numb.

Jetfire grabbed her, bringing her under him for protection. He hollered something, but Aria couldn't hear. Sounds came back louder than ever, whining, then impact, then explosion. Aria couldn't really tell what she was doing, but it was probably something along the lines of screaming and crying her eyes out. The first hits where the closest, as they went on they got further away as far as her rattled mind could tell.

It got quiet for only a second before the next wave came down all at once. The noise deafened Aria, she didn't know what to do; she couldn't even think. The ground just wouldn't stop shaking.

What seemed like hours later, Aria felt vaguely the hand she was in started moving as Jetfire rolled to the side looking at her. Everything was gone around here, reduced to nothing but rubble on the sand. The ringing in her ears stopped.

"-you listening to me, fleshling?" Came Jetfire' s booming voice. Aria weakly turned her head to acknowledge the dying robot.

"What are you doing here? I told you to go home damn it!"

If Aria wasn't in shock she would have laughed. "I can't go home, it's too far away." She stated.

"Well then let's go see the Prime." He sounded different now, more sombre perhaps.

Aria walked beside the once glorious Jetfire, now crawling on the ground. She didn't know where they were going, so she simply followed, wiping the tears from her eyes now and again. Aria still heard gunfire and saw robots fighting in the distance, but nothing seemed real enough to care. She barely saw the red and white helicopter land distantly in front of them; barely heard the screaming.

The janitor could see the source of the yelling now; it was coming from the girl she saw at the museum. She was yelling at the boy lying on the ground surrounded by soldiers and medics. Aria looked off to their right and saw what looked like another robot under a green parachute. Before she could examine it further, the boy sat up and shortly after started making his way to the covered alien.

Jetfire had stopped as did Aria, though she absently took a few more steps to better make out the situation.

Soldiers now gathered around the sleeping giant, a couple uncovering his top half exposing it's greatly damaged chest. She heard Jetfire mumble something, but wasn't paying much attention. She did however, reach out and put a hand on Jetfire's arm, though she didn't know exactly why. The boy now climbed up onto the robot and Aria noticed he was carrying some strange glowing object.

"The Matrix of Leadership," came the Blackbirds strangely quiet voice.

Now the boy was now standing on top of it. Raising the Matrix above his head with both arms, he yelled and stabbed it into the robots chest. As it made contact, the robot seemed to come to life. It made a strange sound like gasping, and whirling air. It coughed sand from its mouth as the parachute blew off it as if some unnatural force came from its mechanical body.

Slowly getting into an upright position it said something.

"Boy, you came back for me."

Aria couldn't help but gape, its voice was…unreal.

"A living Prime!" Jetfire announced rather loudly. "I don't believe it!" He coughed while crawling closer and bracing himself with the broken wall in front of him. Sparks and wires hanging from his gaping chest wound.

The Prime looked up, Aria followed its line of sight to see another strange looking robot flying towards it. The flying thing then disappeared momentarily before reappearing right in front of the weakened Prime.

Just the force sent the Prime as well as the other robots and people around it to the ground. The flying robot then disappeared again, reappearing to attack some helpless soldiers. It then stole the Matrix from the Prime, stepped on it and once again, disappeared.

The Prime tried to get up, but seemed unable to. Aria watched as she slowly made her way over beside the crawling Jetfire.

"Oh, no," she heard him murmur. Aria felt the breeze of his arm leaving her side and going to his chest. For some reason she knew the old Blackbird wasn't going to last much longer. She looked up at him, his red eyes were fading as he looked on at the great fallen Prime.

"Jetfire," she whispered reaching up to his robotic elbow. The dying robot looked back at her, if possible, he looked thoughtful.

The moment was lost as the sound of gunfire and missiles returned. Aria quickly plugged her ears with both hands and looked at the top of the pyramid that the guns were focused on. It was the Star Harvester that was about to kill them all. No wonder no one knew about its existence, the Egyptians built an entire pyramid around it.

That's when Aria saw another great phenomenon, the tanks and rocks surrounding the covered machine began to float high in the air. A moment later, they fell back down to Earth, true gravity returning.

"All my Decepticon life, I never did a thing worth living until now."

Aria looked back up at him alarmed. What was he talking about?

"Optimus, take my parts and you will have a power you've never known."

The weak Prime watched as Jetfire reached into the hole in his chest.

"Fulfil your destiny." Jetfire pulled out a blue sphere shaped part and held it out towards the Prime as he fell forward,

dead.

Aria screamed. This couldn't be happening, what would she do now? Her legs suddenly went numb and she fell to the ground.

"Jetfire!" She screamed again. Aria hardly noticed the Prime now staring at her. Things started to go quiet again, numbness setting in. Two other robots: one yellow, one blue; came towards Jetfire's corpse.

The blue robot shot cables out attaching one to the fallen Blackbird and one to the Prime who was crawling towards him. Aria gasped as Jetfire's body began to rapidly disassemble only to attach onto the Prime's body. The finished product was nothing less than amazing.

The Prime's odd red and blue parts were now partially covered by Jetfire's titanium ones. It stood to full height with the stature of that of a deity. Aria was left breathless when it spoke and took off into the sky.

Her attention though, went back to Jetfire seconds after. All that remained of him was as far as Aria could tell was a metal skeleton. In his hand was still the blue orb he pulled from his chest. The janitor didn't think twice about picking it up.

There was an explosion, Aria jumped at the sound and looked up to see the machine destroyed and Prime as well as another alien robot toppling down the side of the pyramid. Once floating rocks falling around them.

They bounced off the pyramid into some old ruins, another large robot following close behind. No longer being able to see the fight, Aria turned back to face the Blackbirds skeleton once again. Instead she was face to face with a soldier.

"Can you speak English?" He asked loudly. Aria wondered if his ears were ringing too. He must have thought she was an Egyptian seeing as she didn't come with them.

"Do you have water?" she licked her dry lips. "I'm not from here, and I haven't had water for almost two days now." Her voice sounded a little desperate.

He nodded, and pulled a canteen from one of his many pockets. "Where are you from?" He was quieter now handing it to her.

"D.C.," she replied simply and took a very long drink.

He gave her a weird look. "Come on, let's go check out that arm of yours."

"Alright." She followed him.

"My name's William Lennox by the way." He turned to look at her.

"I'm Aria Normandy." She introduced quietly. Alien robots were one thing, soldiers were another. They were scary and she didn't want to get on their bad side.

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While the medic was bandaging her arm, the Prime emerged and came to stand beside a Sphinx's head matching its height, discarding Jetfire's borrowed parts. Soldiers and robots gathered around it.

Thanking the medic Aria made her way to join the crowd. She stopped, her heartbeat quickened when she looked up and saw the Prime looking directly at her. Suddenly feeling self conscious, the janitor realized she wasn't wearing any shoes and the right half of her dress had blood smears all over from her arm injury. Her hair was no longer in any sort of pony tail; more like a dishevelled mass of hair framing her now slightly tanned and tear stained face. Actually, she was still crying now that she thought about it. Regardless, she still stared at the Prime. Jetfire had been right.

This Prime was pretty amazing.

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	4. USS Theodore Roosevelt

edited.

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Now this was the life. Steel sinks, steel showers, steel toilets behind steel doors, who would want to live anywhere else?

Aria currently stood in the mighty USS Theodore Roosevelt's industrial bathroom. One half had rows of sinks, the other was lined with toilet stalls and showers with translucent plastic curtains. All the walls were white. The janitor felt like she walked into a saw movie, at least it was clean.

As she idly stood in the middle of the large white and steel room, she heard a toilet flush and a not so attractive looking man practically burst out of stall sill doing up his fly. He stopped mid zip and gave her the skink eye before proceeding out of the bathroom not bothering to wash his hands. Ew.

Aria plugged her nose as the smell finally reached her, it was unpleasant to say the least. Finally deciding to make a move, she checked under the rest of the stalls for anyone else, her bare feet making soft padding noises as she walked. Satisfied there were no more people occupying the bathroom, Aria locked the door. The crew and soldiers would have to find a different one or wait their turn.

After turning the cleanest looking shower on, the janitor attempted to peel off the once white garment. It was disgusting. Rips, burns, blood, sand; it had it all. Aria decided to leave it on, and got into the lukewarm shower.

After the chaos had ended, the soldiers took her with them to a variety of military vehicles. Aria sat shoulder to shoulder with the group of men compacted into the back of a truck. As they drove she noticed that some of the robots transformed into rather dinged up looking cars much to Aria's surprise, while others walked behind the slow moving line of military vehicles. She saw the yellow Camaro and the smaller green car. The windows were tinted, but she could tell they were full of people, probably including the ones from the museum.

It took about half a day to make it to the shore of the Mediterranean Sea, according to the pile of men that Aria was sitting with, it took them only two hours going the speed limit. Unfortunately for them, the giant injured aliens could only walk so fast.

Aria figured out that these blue eyed creatures were Autobots. The red eyed ones were the Decepticons. Except Jetfire, he had changed sides. She was still holding the blue globe. Well it wasn't blue anymore, the swirling energy inside it had long disappeared; it was rusted and brown now.

It was pitch black when they made it to the aircraft carrier. It could have been easily the most spectacular thing Aria had ever seen, if it wasn't for the giant transforming robots behind her.

Shortly after boarding the giant aircraft carrier, Aria and the other civilians from the museum were given a tour. Before they started, everyone gave a short introduction, where Aria finally learned their names. The girl was Mikaela Banes, the boys were Sam Witwicky and Leo Spitz, and the middle aged man was Seymour Simmons who apparently wasn't a civilian but a secret agent. Aria had a hard time believing that.

"Aria Normandy," the janitor said when it was her turn. The four others looked at her as if she appeared out of nowhere.

Suddenly the boy Sam blurted out "Hey!" A look of reorganization dawned on his face. "You were that screaming girl by Jetfire!"

Aria merely nodded in response. Not ready to encourage more excited behaviour from the boy.

He opened his mouth to continue but the officer interrupted him by starting the tour. It turned out that there were enough extra bunks for the four of them. They were then shown the eating and lounging area as well as the kitchen. The tour ended on the flight deck with the officer listing the places they couldn't go; which was pretty much everywhere after the second level of the bridge and the runway when being used. Aria just realized it was dawn already.

Her and the others watched as Sam approached the towering Prime that stood facing the sea at the bow of the ship. That's when Aria decided she needed a shower and quietly walked away. Strangely it was hard for her not to look back.

Aria had no shampoo, conditioner or even soap for that matter. She just stood there, letting the warm water splash her face, soaking her hair and dress. The water at her feet was a dark mix of blood, sand and various small unknown pieces of debris.

The sounds wouldn't leave her head, missiles exploding, metallic voices yelling, soldiers barking out desperate commands, gunshots constantly firing.

The smell of burning metal, blood, dust, death; it was overwhelming.

There was a thud as the back of Aria's head hit the steel shower wall. The tears from her eyes mixing with the falling water, she clenched her teeth in attempt to stay quiet. She slid to the bottom of the shower holding her ears with both hands, desperately trying to stop the noise in her head. Finally she let out a wail. Why her? What had she done in her life to have had whiteness such events? And Jetfire, she barely knew him. He didn't even care to learn her name, or remember her for that matter. But he had come back for her. He had protected her, and ultimately saved the world be sacrificing himself for the Prime.

She was moved by what he had done. If she had been in his position, would she have done it? Killed herself to save a planet full of life? She couldn't bring herself to answer that.

The shower suddenly stopped, leaving the sobbing and wet girl to shiver. She didn't have a towel either. She heard pounding on the door and a muffled gruff voice yelling it had to "use the washroom". He could wait.

It must have been an hour before Aria attempted to move from the shower. She felt no cleaner than before. To Aria's luck, there was a towel hanging on top of a shower rod two stalls down. Not really caring it was clean or dirty; she wrapped it around her wet, almost transparent white dress.

Walking down the narrow hallway to the bunkered, she received many different looks from the crew and soldiers. Some gave her epithetic looks, while others simply looking her up and down not seeming to care much about her emotional state. Some soldiers even stopped to pat her on the back and whisper encouraging words like "It'll get better" and "you'll get through it".

When Aria made it to her bunk, she chose the bottom mattress and closed the heavy, foul smelling curtain. She knew everyone was eating from the smell of food when she walked by the kitchen. She was starving too, but wasn't even close to wanting to indulge her bodies desire. Placing the rusty sphere beside her stiff pillow, she attempted to get some sleep still wearing her wet dress and towel. Her mind couldn't focus enough to care.

She would be on this ship for almost two weeks, sailing across the Mediterranean Sea, and then the Atlantic Ocean before reaching Washington. It was going to be a long and awkward voyage.

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Aria awoke after a short and disturbing sleep. She dreamt that the Prime failed, and the Star Harvester shot a beam straight into the sun. The sun then imploded leaving the earth in temporary darkness before exploding and incinerating the entire planet. Aria woke up just before the rushing wall of fire engulfed her entirely.

The Fallen's laugh still echoing in her mind.

This time Aria entered the kitchen instead of by passing it. She couldn't help but make a face at the food displayed in plastic tubs with tongs protruding out of them. The meat looked greasy, the soup, unidentifiable, and the vegetables were all very over ripe.

Aria took one of everything. She knew it was bad if she ate too much, so she ate very slowly to insure she didn't get a stomach ache and die. The lounge was pretty much empty, save for a few crew members. Aria sat in a corner away from them. The lounge was a large square room, full of rows of tables. In each corner there was a small box t.v., one displayed the news, the other three showing football. She shook her head. Men.

After she finished eating, Aria made her way up the hatch to the main deck. She had to make sure no one was behind her beforehand, since she was wearing a dress, which is the very reason she was going up. The janitor was on the hunt for some clean clothes. However as she searched the flight deck for Lennox, he was nowhere to be found. Only the Prime was there, looking up at the stars, alone.

It was the robot Jetfire practically worshiped. That old coot.

She was afraid to approach this mighty being, sure she talked to Jetfire, but that was a life and death situation. If she hadn't, she'd be dead in the desert by now. She pictured herself half buried in the sand and instantly lost interest in the subject.

The whole time she thought to herself, she had been staring at the towering robot. Her eyes were getting painful now, her contacts weren't meant to be worn for days on end.

She managed to turn around and head back without the Prime noticing. Aria had to take out these stupid contacts before she wrecked her eyes. She made it back to the bathroom which was also empty. Was everyone sleeping? Not caring that much, Aria removed both contacts and tossed them straight into the garbage. She'd wished she'd brought her glasses, but that was hardly her fault. She was supposed to be in bed right now, in her house, on land.

Aria made her way back to her bunk, passing dozens of snoring curtains until she reached hers. She pulled off her dress and slept in her undergarments that night. All she really wanted was to be warm and comfortable in a soft bed. But alas, she was stuck with a solid pillow and a scratchy cotton blanket.

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The following days where uneventful, she finally located Lennox and asked him what to do about extra clothing. In response he laughed and said the only clothes she was going to find where in the changing rooms. What a horrifying experience. Finally she decided on a large white tee shirt and grey sweat pants. Both of which she washed very thoroughly before putting them on. When she did, she tied the white shirt behind her back to give it some shape, and the sweatpants were too long, so she rolled them up into shorts.

As for sleeping, it wasn't going so well. It seemed like whenever Aria closed her eyes, she would end up back on the battlefield. Instead she would lie awake and think about various things, from her house to the majestic Prime she was too scared to talk to.

Did she mention she was completely blind too? Well not completely, but pretty much. The near sighted janitor couldn't make out anything clearly until it was a foot away. She was pretty sure half the crew thought she was a klutz, judging by the amount of them she ran into.

While Aria was eating two days ago, Sam, Mikaela and Leo cornered her asking how she knew Jetfire and how she got there. That's when she informed them she was the Udvar Centers far too curious head janitor. By their faces, Aria could tell they figured it out pretty quickly. Well except Leo, she had to explain it from the begging to him, but the others listened with interest as well. In return they told Aria their story up to why they were in the museum. She admitted at one point she thought they were the Decepticons. They laughed at that.

Later that day, they introduced Aria to their guardian: the Camero also known as Bumblebee. He had transformed in a rather showy fashion, played some Elvis Priestly and held out a finger for her to shake. Taking it she laughed, apparently they had quite the personalities.

Yesterday she was stuck in the bunks all day with Sam, Leo and Mikaela. There was some classified business going on up stairs that they "weren't authorized to hear". Sam and Mikaela were not happy about being excluded, but eventually calmed down. The four of them ended up talking all day, Leo and Sam about robots, Aria and Mikaela about lack of personal hygiene products onboard the giant vessel.

It was the morning of the fifth day now. The sun was just coming up, it was so beautiful Aria dared to climb up to the second level of the bridge to admire it. The humid breeze felt fresh and clean as Aria looked on at the pink and orange lined stratus clouds. The image was reflected over the unusually calm water, they were going though the straight that entered the Atlantic Ocean.

Below the Prime came into her peripheral vision as he made his way to the bow of the boat conversing with one of the soldiers. Aria found herself now looking on at the blurry Prime. The soldier turned around to head back, sounding like he was giving it instructions. The Prime turned to better acknowledge the man until he stopped talking and left the Autobot leader there.

It seemed when the Prime was about to turn back, the mighty being noticed her staring at it. Her heart picked up as she turned away pretending she didn't notice the thirty foot tall alien. It however continued to face her. Finally she turned to look back. Its face was too blurry to make out, but its glowing blue eyes looked perfect with the sun rise behind them.

Aria couldn't bring herself to look away, and apparently nether could the Prime. It was the most magnificent thing she had ever laid her eyes on. Maybe it was the way it stood, or maybe it was its voice. Aria wasn't sure what she was feeling, but whatever that was, it wasn't natural.

The janitor snapped out of it, and turned to briskly head into the closest open door. Was that normal? No no, it couldn't be. It wasn't that she was scared of it. It was the fact that she wasn't that scared her.

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	5. The Prime's Introduction

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It turned out Mikaela wasn't as innocent as Aria originally thought. Asking the nineteen year old where she got her comb, shampoo and conditioner from, the girl reviled that she had "borrowed" them from under a sailors bunk. Before Aria could question the girls antics, Mikaela swiftly changed the subject and asked if she would like to use them. Remembering the look of her hair the night before, Aria couldn't refuse.

By the time the janitor felt clean, she'd have had to turn the timed shower on three times; it was defiantly worth it though. As she had predicted a week ago, her body was completely covered in bruises. Some small, while others much larger. One in particular had a geometrical shape; she must have landed on something metal when Jetfire decided to drop her off fifteen feet in the air.

It took about twenty minutes for Aria to get the last of the knots out of her layered black hair. Other than the scrape on her forehead and slight tan, she looked somewhat normal again. Not bothering to towel dry it, Aria unlocked the door and exited, passing a group of impatient looking soldiers waiting to use the bathroom.

Aria finally established a schedule that consisted of, sleeping, showering, eating, talking, and sleeping again. A sailor's life was not the life for her and it didn't help that the weather was terrible either. It had been raining constantly since yesterday morning and by the looks of it wasn't about to stop. One of the three sports t.v.'s even had the weather network now. Judging by the sailor's looks while they watched it, Aria figured it wasn't good.

Aria made her way back to the bunkered slower than usual, the rocking of the aircraft carrier and her bad eyesight was a very annoying combination. "I just had to wear contacts that day. Why, why couldn't I have just worn my glasses?" Aria grumbled to herself, quickly realizing she said it out loud, she scanned the area for biological blobs that could make fun of her. Luckily there were none.

Making it to her bunk, Aria was greeted my Sam, Mikaela and Leo.

"Oh Aria," Mikaela exclaimed, "you look _so_ much better now!"

Aria looked down embarrassed; she didn't look that bad before did she? "Thanks for letting me borrow—err, your stuff." Technically it wasn't.

Mikaela let out a rather nervous laugh, taking the items from Aria's out stretched hands, opting not to say anything.

The four of them then made their way to the kitchen to get some breakfast. Sure it was half past eleven, but why wake up early when there's no point? They sat down at one of the tables near the corner after deciding on which barely edible food items they thought was least disgusting to consume that day.

"So Aria, have you met any other Autobots yet?" Sam asked looking up from his foul looking yogert.

Taken back by his question Aria managed to stutter out a no. Meet them? Weren't they some top secret government cover up? Now that she met two, she could just walk up and talk to all of them? "Do we ask Captain Lennox first?"

Leo and Aria gave confused looks while Sam and Mikaela laughed.

Mikaela sobered up "They're pretty hard to keep away actually."

"Optimus came to Philadelphia without anyone knowing, just to talk to me," Sam cut in.

"Optimus," Aria repeated confused, "the Prime you mean?" She remembered Jetfire calling it that once.

Now Sam and Mikaela gave her a funny look. "Yeah Optimus Prime, he's the leader of the Autobots," Sam clarified.

"What are the other Autobots' names?" Aria asked, now she was curious.

Mikaela took a breath, but Sam beat her to the punch. "Well there's Optimus, Bee, Ironhide—"

"Ratchet!" Mikaela cut in.

"Yeah, and Ratchet," Sam nodded looking back to his girlfriend and back to Aria. "Then there's Skidz and Mudflap, Sideswipe and uh, uhh…"

"Jolt!" Mikaela practically yelled.

Aria noticed their excited, bobble head like appearance while listing off the aliens names. They fed off each other's energy. Leo gave her a knowing look, he knew how she felt; utterly confused.

Speaking of Leo, she didn't know if his was forgetful or extremely conceited; because she had heard his "_epic_" story about facing a giant Decepticon about seventeen times now. The funny part was the fact he didn't even _do_ anything. It's like thinking you're a hero; even though all you really did was survive.

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The next thing Aria knew, she was being dragged up to the Hanger Deck to meet a group of metal robots. To say she was slightly nervous would be the understatement of a lifetime. Aria even made sure to use the bathroom, she didn't know how many more life threatening surprises her bladder could take.

When the four reached the hanger, Aria noticed that a corner of the hanger was cleared of planes and instead was full of various vehicles. Aria recognised a red and blue flaming truck as a Peterbuilt right away. Her father drove one. There was also a Chevy Volt, Beat and a Corvette Stingray; which Aria had to admit, looked pretty damn fine.

Among them there was a large yellow robot seemingly working on a much smaller red one. It looked up greeting Sam and Mikaela, like it was a normal everyday occurrence. "Hello Sam, Mikaela." He nodded at them.

They returned the greeting calling him "Ratchet" before the smaller robot spoke up. "Hey what up, not goin' to say hi to poor ol' Mudflap here?" It sounded put out.

"Hold still," the robot named Ratchet grumbled. The humans laughed.

"Hey, who's dat?" Mudflap pointed at Aria.

Sam took this as an opportunity to introduce the janitor to the robot aliens. "This is Aria; she came with us to Egypt."

"How did she know about us?" the bigger robot inquired; now looking more closely at her. "I haven't seen her before."

Feeling it was time to suck it up, Aria answered it. "I work at the museum that they found Jetfire. I followed them not really believing my eyes. Next thing I knew," Aria took a breath, "I was in Egypt."

Ratchet looked thoughtful, "so you came with Sam and the others to revive Optimus?"

If this Prime was so great and powerful, why did everyone refer to him in such a disrespectful manner? "No, I woke up after they left. I stayed with Jetfire until he came to join the fight…" Aria looked down, poor robot.

"If it wasn't for Jetfire, Optimus wouldn't have been able to destroy the Star Harvester."

There was a sound hydraulics, rotating metal and spinning tires. Aria turned around only to witness the flaming semi transform into the great Prime itself. The cool breeze of its complete metamorphosis gently blew her hair back as she stared on at the sight. It stood to its full height, head mere inches from the ceiling. The towering Prime held the same majestic posture as the first time she laid eyes on it. This time however, it looked down, directly at her. A bit nerve racking for the girl.

"Yes," it said in a deep voice, "Jetfire made a great sacrifice, He proved to be a true Autobot."

Aria gave a dreary smile; it was nice to know the Prime actually cared. "I know," she sighed not meeting the Peterbuilt's bizarre glowing eyes. The more she thought about the ancient robot, the more she realized how much she had enjoyed his strange and often frightening company.

The metallic alien leader bent down on one knee bringing his large metallic face barely a meter from her small flesh covered one. "I am Optimus Prime from the planet Cybertron," it said in a well rehearsed tone.

Subconsciously the girl leaned back at the close proximity of the Primes face. Odd tattoos were etched into the sides of his face, one in particular where his right cheek would be caught the janitor's attention. She watched the metal face plates shift as he talked and changed expression. It was amazing how different, yet similar their species were. Although his eyes looked like a series of lights and optics, he blinked, just like a human. He had a metal nose, lips, cheeks and forehead too; much like her species.

"My name's Aria Normandy, I'm from uh, earth." She finished lamely. The giant robot nodded at her. "It is a beautiful planet," he stated while standing up. Aria was getting goose bumps from the sound of the Primes deep voice.

There was the distant sound of a far away elevator bringing down various planes from the Flight Deck. However Aria and the others paid no heed to it.

"The Autobots are honoured to call it home." The thirty foot Prime finished. He gazed at the four humans with and expression Aria could only identify as respect.

It was still strange to her to see these towering robots, but it was mindboggling to her in respect to their capacity to feel emotions. Specifically their compassion for each other; between what she was hearing now, Jetfire's sacrifice, and the various stories Sam and Mikaela told her about Bumblebee.

"Yeah, and wit out us, those mean ol' Decepticons would mess you guys up!" Mudflap piped up. Aria turned around to face the yellow and smaller red metal aliens.

Ratchet looked up from his work. "Earth's government seems to disagree." He shook his head, "Apparently the Decepticons are here to 'hunt' us."

Aria swallowed, "just how many Decepticons are there?" She remembered the vast amounts of them back in Egypt, but they were all killed. How many more were there?

"Apparently for everyone we offline, five more appear to take its place." The yellow robot gave a hard look. He then glanced up above Aria's head. "What are you…" Before he could finish there was a strange sound as if a weapon was charging up.

Aria whirled around to come literally face to face with a glowing blue cannon, metal parts swirling around it.

"_Boo._"

Aria's eyes practically bulged out of her head. She managed to take a breath before screaming out bloody murder. She continued to have a screaming fit half way down the Hanger Deck. This couldn't be happening, was it another Decepticon? She was right about the bladder thing though; she surely would have peed her pants. Pausing to take a breath, Aria heard laughing. Why the hell would anyone be laughing? And why was no one else running? Curiosity getting the better of her for the second time, she stopped and turned around. Thank god the robots were so huge, or else she wouldn't have been able to see the figure of the Prime scolding another rather sturdy looking robot for scaring the daylights out of the human.

"The girl has been through enough this past week without you frightening her." The janitor heard the Prime continue.

"I just wanted to show her my cannons…" The smaller robot muttered rather loudly, disarming its weapon.

"Ironhide," the Peterbuilt said in a condescending tone.

Aria heard Mikaela's voice holler. "Aria come back, he was teasing you!" Aria couldn't see, but she knew Mikaela was trying not to laugh.

Aria cautiously made her way back, her eyes never taking her scrutinizing eyes off the robot known as Ironhide. The janitor made sure to join Leo behind Sam and Mikaela, he also looked apprehensive of the newest alien.

It looked at her through narrowed optic systems, "I'm the Autobots' weapons specialist, Ironhide. I'd be best for you remember it, _punk_." It spat disdainfully.

"A-Aria, nice to meet you too." She sputtered out in response. It didn't sound the least bit friendly. And why was she a _punk_?

"Punk," it repeated. Aria glared at nothing in particular.

Prime scolded, "Ironhide, be nice."

The weapons specialist muttered under its breath before turning around and transforming into a very heavy duty looking Topkick, joining the other vehicles.

"Aria," she turned around once again to face the yellow robot addressing her, "Don't let him get to you. That's just how he is."

Sam smiled at her, "yeah, it just means he likes you."

The janitor nodded confused. Wanting to change the subject, Aria faced the Yellow and red robots. "So your uh, Ratchet and er-" What was the smaller one's name again?

"I'm Ratchet, the Autobots' medic. Nice to meet you." He nodded at her.

"And I'm Mudflap!" The small red alien exclaimed before Aria could return the greeting to the larger robot.

Giving them a hesitant smile Aria replied: "Well it's nice to meet you too." She paused awkwardly before continuing, "It's not every day I get to meet robots from the planet Cybertron." They laughed.

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Hey guys! I manged to get this finished before my deadline (6 mins from now). We even get some Optimus Prime time! God, I spent pretty much equal amounts of time writing this and studying the autobots on Transformers wiki. If you haven't been to that sight, check it out! It's hilarious to read! And thank you sooo much for the reviews! Keep them up! The more I get, the faster I write...anndd there's going to be some action next chapter (forshadowed in this chapter hint hint) ;D


	6. Half Naked

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For the first time in a week and a half, Aria finally had a pleasant dream. It was a beautiful summer day while she relaxed on her hammock swinging back and forth, back and forth. The sparse cumulus clouds where animatedly shaped beyond reality; everything from frogs to fluffy UFO's leisurely floated by. Aria could feel herself smiling, staring up at them until the hammock suddenly tipped over to far.

THUMP

Aria was abruptly brought out of her peaceful dream only to come nose to nose with the cold smelly floor. Before she had a chance to comprehend what just happened to her, she was suddenly rolling backwards towards her bunk. What in the bloody hell was going on? This time Aria managed to sit up before the floor once again tilted and she was sent tumbling over yet another time. Finally the janitor realized it was the aircraft carrier rolling back and forth, explaining the hammock in her dream. Aria braced herself between the sides of the two bunks, only letting go for a moment when she saw the rusty orb that once belonged to Jetfire rolling beside her on the floor. After grabbing it she placed it in her crossed legs and attempted to lift her mattress to reveal the storage compartment under it. Aria hastily threw it in before she lost her grip and dropped the mattress back down.

Observing her surroundings to the best of her extent, she noticed most of the bunks' curtains were open and the beds themselves were abandoned. As Aria slowly got up and made her way down the narrow hall, she confirmed the entire bunkered was empty. She knew she was a heavy sleeper, but seriously this was getting ridicules. Paper, trash, clothes, books, and various other things were scattered about the floor; rolling, bouncing and sliding to the harsh movement of the ship.

Speaking of clothes, Aria realized that she was only wearing her oversized white tee shirt over her bra and underwear. But judging by the amounts of uniforms sliding by, she wasn't the only one who had not thought of it earlier. To concerned about what was going on, Aria continued her journey down the next hall, pantless.

Now Aria could hear yelling coming from the Hanger deck. She was about to climb up the port hole when she noticed a thin stream of water leaking down it forming a sloshing puddle under the ladder. That generally wasn't a good sign. Taking a deep breath, Aria took her hands off the adjacent walls and grabbed on tightly to the ladder. As she slowly made her way up, the yelling became louder and louder. She gasped upon sight of the Hanger. Not four feet away from her was a plane being held in place by six men and a silver robot. Frantically looking around Aria saw countless other aircrafts being either moved or being held in place. Aria could see water pouring in through the holes above the descended aircraft elevators where the planes were quickly getting taken off so they could go up again. On some parts of the hanger floor the water was pooled up to a foot deep; sailors, soldiers and robots alike, swiftly splashing through them while trying to stop planes from crashing into one and other.

Spotting Leo, Sam and Mikaela along with Mudflap and another small green robot Aria had come to know as Skidz, she ran over to them planning to ask what was going on.

"H-Hey, Aria!"Leo hollered waving to her with one hand, the other holding a rope with the other teenagers. "Come help us out!" She could have sworn she saw him look her up and down before turning back to the helicopter. The three of them with the two smaller robots, were currently holding a helicopter in place away from the other various commotion. She ran towards them keeping as war away from the shifting jets as possible, her bare feet dashing through the icy water. She joined them gripping the rope. "What's going on?" She yelled over raised voices and splashing water.

"There's a huge storm outside, we think it's a hurricane!" Mikaela was the one to answer.

She made out Sam's voice next, "They're trying to get as many planes down here as they can before the storm gets any worse!"

"Worse!" Aria shrieked, "how could it possibly get any worse!"

As if irony itself had heard her, there was a loud bang.

Aria heard Mudflap mutter "What the hell was dat?" just before the eighty thousand tonne aircraft carrier rolled violently to the side. The thirty degree angle of the floor sent half the population of the hanger toppling over. Aria could hear metal crunching and screeching together, their own assigned helicopter also sliding towards the deafening sound. All four of them where on the ground within seconds.

Aria was in a state of shock once again, she half expected to be crushed in a pile of broken metal. Eventually she stopped rolling but remained face down with her hands on her head. She was hopelessly waiting for the floor to stop rocking back and forth.

"Raise the elevators!" She noticed a loud voice yell above the commotion. There was a loud buzzing sound as the floor under her felt as if it was rising. It took her a minute to realize she was lying on one of the elevators.

Aria attempted to get up and jump off before she ended up outside. Unfortunately the hard rocking of the ship left her efforts in vein. By the time she managed to stand up she came face to face with a thirty foot wave coming straight towards the side of the aircraft carrier. She couldn't even bring herself to scream. Her pupils dilated, mouth ajar.

"**Brace for impact!**" Called a distant voice.

The wave hit her like a wall. It was unlike anything Aria had ever felt before. It seemed like the surface tension of the water was made of stone, and then she was drowning. The freezing water forced its way down her throat and into her lungs and stung her eyes, though she scarcely noticed the latter.

Next thing she knew she was up against the railing that had previously been twenty meters behind her, sputtering out water. She must have hit it hard, because there was an intense pain shooting through her spine causing her to wince. The aircraft carrier then shifted back again almost just as violently and Aria was sent tumbling back to the other side. This time however, something caught her and lifted her up. Her hazel eyes met the glowing blue ones of the Prime.

"You should not be up here." He sounded incredibly angry. Aria didn't know why anger would be his primary emotion at the moment, but she wasn't about to try and explain herself. The towering robot then started to run towards the bridge, Aria still in his metallic hand. She then saw why a instant later, another giant wave was coming towards them.

The Prime placed her on the third level of the bridge. "Stay inside and hold on." He commanded in a harsh tone before turning around and helping the other alien robots assist the feeble looking crew.

Aria glanced back at the incoming wave; she didn't need to be told twice. She ran for her life to the nearest door. She burst into a well furnished room and ran into the corner beside a couch, sitting down she braced for impact.

There was another huge crack as the wave ploughed into the ship. Aria kept her eyes tightly closed in silent prayer for it to end. How many people have been washed away, frozen and drown to death? She hoped the ship didn't flood and sink in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, then everyone was as good as dead.

Why couldn't she do anything to help? Sam, Mikaela and Leo had been helping below, and here she was hiding in a corner of a room half naked. Her body was completely covered in goosebumps and her back still throbbed. Her hair clung onto her round face and lips. Perhaps she could assist with the clean up when it was all over. Aria let out a sob, people were _dying_ and all she could offer was cleaning up the mess?

She wished Jetfire was still alive; she could have flew away home a long time ago. She could have made him go back to the museum where she could have visited him all the time. But no, he had to die.

He saved the world, and she was sitting here feeling sorry for herself. Aria opened her eyes, she wouldn't have it. She didn't realize she had moved until she was reaching for the doorknob. Taking a shaky breath, she opened the door and was against the railing in one swift movement.

Aria blinked the raindrops from her eyes trying to look down at the Flight Deck below her. Her blurred vision managed to pick out three large robots among vast amounts of humans; some holding onto planes while others just looked like they were running around not knowing what to do. The wind whipped her wet hair around; it was hard to tell what time of day it was because of the dark clouds swirling above them in the sky. It looked like one of those end of the world movie scenes formed by someone's twisted imagination.

There was another large banging sound to her right, followed by hollering that could barely be heard above the turbulent wind gusts. Aria ran over to the edge of the bridge to look over the side of the aircraft carrier. The narrow balcony bent upwards at a twenty degree angle, exposing windows of the ship that would otherwise be covered by water to Aria's wide eyes. The railing was leaning oddly into her as she peered desperately down looking for the source of the loud sound.

Without any warning, the ship lurched to the other side at an even larger angle. The railing now leaning away from her body as it fell forward. Aria felt weightless as she lost her footing and fell over the side, screaming.

Aria hit the water on her side before her velocity sent her further down into the depths of the Atlantic Ocean. Almost instantly the current sent her spinning away from the side of the gigantic vessel. She could hardly tell what was going on, her body already shutting down in reaction to the freezing water. Attempting to swim towards the surface seemed impossible to the girl considering she didn't even know which way was up. She was going to die because of her own sheer stupidity.

Her body became numb and she closed her eyes; this was it she thought.

That was until something grabbed her. Though Aria couldn't comprehend what was going on, somewhere deep inside, she felt relieved.

What was seconds seemed like hours before they reached the surface. Aria gasped for air, coughing out large amounts of Ocean water. Opening her eyes, the first thing she saw was the side of the enormous aircraft carrier, hanging on to the ledge however, was a large arm with flaming red and blue paint on various parts. She followed the arm to once again meet the face of the Prime; her saviour. The soaking alien leader however, looked far from pleased.

Aria beamed at him, even giggled through chattering teeth; she had never been so happy to be alive.

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So guys, what did you think? Did you like it? haha, anyways I was wonering if you guys like the shorter chapters and constant uploading, oorrr if you want longer chapters with a bit more of a wait? though keep in mind if you slow me down, this story could get pretty complex ( ;) ) but I enjoy this too!

Please please, send me feedback too if you want reguarding grammer or what not, I know I suck so don't worry!

I would also like to thank Ronald Wesley for the "bloody hell" statement :) Thanks guys!


	7. John Matson

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Aria's happiness had been short lived. The mighty Prime had lifted her back onto the flight deck before Ironhide and Bumblebee slowly hoisted him up as well. As soon as the giant hand let her go, Aria realized she could barely feel her legs before abruptly falling over into the swishing pools of water. The aircraft carrier was still swinging back and forth in the violent Ocean waves. Seconds later there were three soldiers around her seeming to appear out of the blue.

"Are you ok?" One hollered over the wind and rain.

To be perfectly honest, Aria didn't know the answer to that question. Sure she was drowning mere minutes ago, but she _was_ alive. Then again, judging by the way her body was shaking, she was probably not going to feel so good when the numbness wore off. Regardless she nodded her head back at the man. Her teeth loudly chattered while one of the soldiers grabbed her under her arms and lifted her up while another started wrapping what looked like tinfoil around her. After securing it around her quaking body, they led her back to the bridge. She felt the white tee shirt cling to her flat stomach and bare thighs, maybe she sould have put on pants after all. There was a soldier on either side of her preventing her from falling over or slipping on the water washing back and forth across the dynamic flight deck. The rushed movements of the two men caused sharp pains in her back; she hoped she didn't break anything.

They reached a door that entered the first level of the bridge. The third man assisting Aria, rushed ahead to open it. As he did, the aircraft carrier shifted sides causing the door to slam open on the man. He quickly recovered and followed Aria and the other two soldiers inside. The room looked like it was intended to be an engine control room, but it was now crowded with inured men and a few medics running around, trying to tend to them all.

Some of the men were covered in blood, while others looked cold and wet like her. Many were wrapped up in similar tinfoil blankets, shivering much like her. The soldier that had let the three of them in, pulled the door closed behind him. The room suddenly got quiet. Well maybe not, but it was a lot less deafening than outside in the wind, water and rain.

She was then led further into the room and was prompted to sit down beside a blonde man with a gash on his right temple. He held a cloth over it, but the blood seeped through it and down his face and arm. His mouth was closed but his teeth were clenched, Aria could tell by the look on his young face.

On her other side was a much older man with a piece of metal unnaturally getting out of his thigh. There where currently two medics around him; one giving the man an oxygen mask, the other wrapping a piece of clothing tightly around the top of the wound. The man himself was rocking to and fro clenching his blue hands above the place the cloth was being tied as if willing the pain to go away.

"It will be a minute before a doctor can come check you out." Aria turned to face the soldier talking to her. Water was still dripping from his hair and eyebrows. "Just keep your hands under your armpits and breathe deeply. You'll be ok," He added giving her a small smile and a nod.

Aria continued to stare at the space where his head had been long after he had left. The shooting pain in her back had gone away again, but now she felt she should be conserned about the numbness throughout her body. Not only that, but she didn't feel quite right in her head either. She knew she should be worried; scared even. But she wasn't, she simply felt indifferent. Aria looked down and blinked. She noticed her nails were completely blue, what had the solider said? She pictured his face as he talked to her, seeing his deep set eyes and thin lips as they moved silently. He had told her to do something, but she just couldn't remember. Something about armpits maybe, no, that was ridiculous. Why would anybody talk about armpits in a situation like this?

Although, armpits were the warmest part of the body. It dawned on her; the man had probably told her to put her hands under her armpits. But then again, she didn't like the feeling of something incredibly cold touching her skin. She went to move her fingers, only to find that they didn't listen. Not a good sign. She looked at them apathetically, why didn't she care? She was on the verge of hypothermia, or could already be suffering it; and all she could do was gaze down at her hands. Her eyesight was getting unfocused. Maybe she was going to die after all.

Is this what dying was like? A frantic mind trapped in a hollow shell? It wasn't even her full mind; it was just a small part of it trying to talk sense into the rest. She didn't even feel cold or wet anymore. Sure her nails were blue, and every visible inch of her body was covered in goosebumbs, but she felt nothing.

There was a wail of pain, Aria looked over at the older man to her right. The medics had just pulled the piece of metal from his leg. Usually the sight of so much blood everywhere would have made her sick to her stomach like it had back in Egypt. But that part of her brain must have been one of the non-listening ones.

A loud voice brought her back to reality. "My name is John Matson," it said. Aria turned to look at the man who now crouched in front of her. "I'm going to take your temperature, ok?" His question sounded more like a statement. Aria generally didn't like when people did that, but again, she didn't seem to want to care. She just watched him as he stepped around behind her. "I need you to lean forward so you're resting your arms on the floor." The medic instructed.

Aria complied and slumped forward adjusting her numb legs as much as possible until her forehead bumped the floor. Before she realized what was happening the doctor lifted the blanket and her long wet tee shirt up, exposing her underwear. Under normal circumstances Aria would have shot up in a second and asked rather harshly what he was doing. But her mind and body did no such thing; she was going to get a thermometer up her butt, surrounded by men. Aria closed her eyes, she hoped to god that somehow no one including herself would remember this event.

She lied like that a good two minutes before the doctor told her she did a good job and placed her clothing back in its intended position. Though he was done, Aria didn't attempt to sit back up. It wasn't until the medic pulled her up by her shoulder that she sat up again.

"Now's not the time to go to sleep," he stated, his eyes meeting hers. He then turned to the blonde man beside her. "Come here and keep this young girl warm before she freezes to death." He sounded rather calm. "She has moderate hypothermia, that could easily get worse if we don't warm her up. And don't let her fall asleep!"

The medic's voice sounded clear enough, but Aria had trouble grasping just what he was saying. Like English was a foreign language to her all of a sudden.

Aria felt warmth when an arm brought itself around her shoulders bringing her close to a body. A hand also reached out and took both of hers in it. The janitor looked up through half lidded eyes to see the blonde man giving her a pained smile. "Doctors orders," he said. Aria just stared. What the hell did he think he was doing? She wanted to move away from the stranger, but again, her body didn't listen.

The man's previously bleeding head was now covered in a white bandage, though the blood was still visible seeping through it. She wondered what happened to him. He was wet, but not dripping like she was. Aria assumed he was a crew member because of his uniform: a jumpsuit much like hers was. Speaking of that, why was she here in the first place again? Great, her memory must have been going. Slowly tilting her head to look around, a better question popped into her head; where was here, and why was here moving? She must have made a face because the man keeping her warm glanced at her.

"You ok?" he asked sounding concerned.

Aria leaned her head into him, "no," she murmured closing her eyes. She felt so tired. Something was shaking her and yelling, but she paid no heed to it. She let the darkness take her away from the confusion.

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Consciousness returned to Aria. She kept her eyes closed choosing to examine the room with her other senses. The first thing she noticed was beeping of the heart rate monitor in the otherwise silent room; the storm must have been over because there was no longer the sound of howling wind and loud tapping of the rain. The aircraft carrier now smoothly sailed along; it almost felt like she was on land again, _almost_. The room smelt like a hospital for lack of a better term; like disinfectant and antiseptics. Aria became aware of her body, she felt warm and dry. Flexing her fingers she felt her hands were resting on some sort of heating packs, shortly after she felt her feet where wrapped in one too. The unnatural warmth covering the rest of her body must have been coming from a heating blanket, and she was grateful for it. The janitor gave a content sigh before opening her eyes, the stereotypical white lights blinding her as she did.

She lied there for a while observing the other occupants of the room. This must have been the "intensive care" unit of the ship. All of the men lying in the surrounding beds were unmoving; many had similar heart rate monitors attached to them as well. A single doctor made his way around the room holding a clipboard. He would examine a patient, lifting their eyelid and shining a light on their pupil; then he would jot a note down on his clipboard and move on to the next bed.

About ten minutes later he made his way over to her. Upon seeing her awake he flashed a white smile, the stubble on his face suggesting he hadn't had much down time recently. Aria smiled back at the bald man.

"Well it's good to see someone's finally awake," he shone a light into her eyes. "How do you feel?"

Aria blinked at the sudden light and turned her head away. "Physically, warm; mentally, pretty stupid." She admitted.

"Oh?" The medic looked amused now, "And why's that?"

"Well instead of listening to a _giant alien robot leader_ and stay put, I ran outside and fell into the Ocean." She made a breathy sound like a laugh and shook her head.

"I happen to hear that this robot you speak of doesn't like to be disobeyed," he smirked. "And as far as robots go, I don't think he likes swimming either."

Aria laughed nervously. Now that she thought about it, the Prime did look pretty angry after he had saved her. Perhaps she should have thanked him instead of laughing like an idiot. She blamed the sea water.

The doctor looked thoughtful. "Though he did happen to ask about your wellbeing yesterday."

Aria laughed. "Did you tell him I had to get a thermometer up the butt because of my stupidity?"

"Should I have?" The medic raised his eyebrows amused.

"No no," she pulled a hand from under the blanket and waved it in front of her. "It was embarrassing enough, nobody else needs to know about it. Namely him."

"If it makes you feel better, eleven other men had to go through the same thing. Believe it or not, you weren't the only one who decided to go swimming that day."

Laughing again Aria replied "Well that's a relief!"

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So it turned out Aria had broken a rib after all. The doctor told her not to do any strenuous activity, and to avoid railings unless absolutely necessary. Very funny, doctor. Now armed with a new tee shirt, sweat pants and a bottle of T3's; she was sent on her way. When she exited the "intensive care" room she was relieved to see the aircraft carrier was now water free. A dozen or so planes remained on the flight deck; they had minor dents and scratches, but over all looked in good flying condition. Various crew members surrounded the planes, examining them closely. Though blurry due to their distance, Aria saw many of them had bandages around their heads, arms and legs. They also didn't seem quite as chatty as usual.

Aria went to take a deep breath of the fresh humid air, but paused when she felt a sharp pain in her back. This was going to be annoying. The beating rays of the sun seemed to energize the young girl none the less as she turned to face it as if she were a flower after a rainstorm. She must of stood there for a little too long, because the men started giving her funny looks. Aria took it as her queue to leave.

As she slowly and painfully made her way down the ladder, she saw the hanger was in complete disarray compared to the flight deck. Most of the USS Theodore Roosevelt's crew where piling up scrap metal that had been torn off of the planes. The metal made loud crashing noises as they threw them on top of each other. All of the robots where there too, helping in various ways. Some helped collect metal, while others assisted in sorting the damaged planes away from functioning ones. Aria observed the groups of soldiers standing along the walls, they idly talked with one and other probably feeling not needed. Alhough Aria noticed looking around, Sam, Mikaela and Leo where nowhere to be seen.

There was a loud mechanical "Ah-em" sound as the black sturdy looking robot spotted her and nudged the towering Prime beside him. The giant red and blue alien turned around to look at the robot who nudged him, then followed his gaze to Aria. She gave a nervous laugh when she saw the look he gave her. To put it nicely, he didn't look happy. She felt the floor slightly tremble as he walked purposefully towards her. Seeing something that big coming at her with a vengeance, she squealed and started backing away. The Prime however, caught up with one extra step. He kneeled down and before she could turn to run, his face was in front of hers.

"I told you to stay put." His deep voice sounded highly agitated.

Aria opened her mouth to apologize, but was cut off.

"Do you know how to listen?" The Prime didn't give her a chance to answer. "No, obviously not." He kept his head close and spoke in a hushed, though angry tone.

The janitor looked at her toes. "I just wanted to-"

"By falling of the ship? Last time I checked, that is _not_ considered helping." The giant robot gave her a hard look with his glowing optic eyes.

Aria blinked, was the Prime _lecturing_ her?

"If Bumblebee hadn't seen you in the water, you wouldn't be alive right now."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you mad." She a pouted a little, "it's just…"

The Prime's huge face vented out air in what sounded like defeated sigh. "Calm down, calm down. There is no need to become, _emotional_." The word sounded foreign to him. "Just don't do it again." He pointed a mechanical finger to further emphasize his last statement. The Prime then stood to his full height and turned to walk back to the others without another word.

Aria was left standing there bewildered. Never in her life had she even began to imagine that she would be lectured by a thirty foot metal alien leader. Not even a " are you ok?" or a "happy to see you survived"; nope just a good old fashioned talking to. But, Aria thought, that meant he cared at least. Right?

She looked at the other robots; Ironhide's expression was hard as he nodded his head as if agreeing with what the Prime had said. Bumblebee, the yellow robot however, looked sympathetically at her before turning back to join the crew members. The two small red and green ones looked like they were about to fight, but were separated by the lager yellow robot, Ratchet. After pulling the two away from each other he made his way to Aria, much less intimidating as the Prime had. She managed to stand her ground this time.

Ratchet crouched down in front of the janitor and held out his arm. Aria jumped when a blue laser scanned her up and down. She yelped at the sudden pain in her back.

"Hmm, it seems you have a dorsal fracture on your fourth vertebrosternal rib. " The alien physician stated. If he was trying to impress her with his fancy scientific mumbo jumbo, he was sadly mistaken. Aria may have taken Astrology as a major, but Anatomy and Physiology happened to be her minor. She was a bigger nerd that she wanted to let on. The janitor nodded her head at the robot. "Yeah, it hurts a little," she said idly. Truthfully it hurt a lot more than a little. The dull throbbing pain returned every time she inhaled.

"And how did you receive such an injury?" The robot looked interested.

Aria sighed, "a wave pushed me into a railing."

"Ahh, I see." The green-yellow robot looked thoughful.

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Aria's bed had never felt so uncomfortable. She wanted to curl up into her usual ball and fall asleep, but could she? No, her back hurt just to think about it.

When she made it back to her bunk from the awkward conversation with the alien doctor, she discovered Leo loudly snoring in the bed above hers while Sam and Mikaela's where empty. The janitor assumed they were eating lunch at the moment. At least her journey was finally coming to a close, tomorrow she would sleep in her own bed, in her own house, on the ground. Beautiful solid ground. Not this unmerciful water that sought only to kill her. Thank god these robots can swim, or else she would be dead.

Then there were her animals. What would happen to them if she died? She didn't want her dog to go to a kennel. And what about her horses? They'd probably get sold for meat in a second. Oh how she missed them, they were her children. She didn't want kids, or a husband for that matter. Men were far too stupid for her to want to live with one. Other than the fact she was a janitor, Aria enjoyed her life, alone, with her animals.

But then again, would her life ever be the same after this? The government must have some sort of plan to cover up the episode at the Udvar center that Jetfire practically destroyed. She herself would most likely have to sign an oath of silence or something so they knew she wouldn't go telling every Tom, Dick and Harry she came across. Aria didn't know why she would in the first place, anyone she would tell would think she's nuts.

She wondered if she would ever see the so called "transformers" again; probably not. Aria remembered hearing their secret base was in Diego Garcia, which happened to be in the middle of the Indian Ocean. They, along with the military, would most likely be heading back there as soon as possible. Her heart sank at the thought. She had a life changing experience and had met towering aliens from a distant planet. She was a Astrologist for god sakes, this is what she lived for! Aria momentarily wondered how to become a scientist for them. Yeah right, she wasn't _that_ good. They wanted astrophysicists, not museum janitors. Then again, Aria thought, from what she learned this past week and a half; anything's possible.

She turned her head to face the wall, with the curtains drawn it was pitch black in her bunk. She lay on her stomach taking small breaths to avoid unnecessary back pain. The Prime's regal voice sounded in her ears as she imagined his metal face with the symbol on his right cheek. Aria remembered the doctor's words. "_Though, he did ask about your wellbeing yesterday_." She smiled whole heartedly, what a sweetheart.

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I know, I know, you hate me. But I managed to go home this weekend to vist my family and horse. And speeking of my horse (Who I lovingly named Jetfire lol), I got bucked off yesterday afternoon. Therefore I now feel bad for putting Aria through all this pain, because my back hurts like hell too. Nothing better than falling of a galloping horse and then getting kicked by another. Anyways.. I tryed to go more in depth in this chapter, so did I do good?

And thank you to all my reviewers! I love you, and please continue to do so!


	8. Pretty Lady

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Aria woke up later that day. Deciding she needed to eat; she made her way to the kitchen before anything else.

Tonight's supper looked like a mix of over boiled peas, carrots and pork. It was nice to know that they were at least trying to encourage healthy eating; unfortunately the quality of the food didn't do it any justice. After taking her first bite, Aria came to realize that swallowing was quite painful for her sore ribs. If they had hurt earlier that day, they killed now; and the broken one felt especially pleasant. She popped a pain pill.

She sat there, alone in the corner just thinking and eating. Aria didn't recognize any of the men from the emergency medical room, but then again she could barely remember being there. All she knew for sure was that there were multiple men around her while she got a thermometer up the butt. It was embarrassing just to think about. She really hoped no one remembered.

After she finished eating she made her way to the silver and white mass bathroom. She knocked on the door; the men had come to know that when the two girls knocked, it was time to leave the room. Mikaela had enforced that a while ago, Aria had to admit, she could be very scary. Speaking of whom, it was Mikaela who unlocked the door and let her in. She must have just finished having a shower judging by her wet hair and towel wrapped tan body. Aria had tried to tan once, just last week as a matter of fact; let's just say it didn't last.

"Fancy meeting you here," Aria teased.

Mikaela raised her eyebrows cynically "Ha ha. You're funny."

The janitor returned the look, "Why yes I know." She turned, heading to the showers picking up a random towel off the floor as she did. Mikaela must have watched her trying to reach it without moving her back since she heard a laugh.

"So I heard you fell off the boat," she started. "And then Optimus jumped in to save you, how sweet." At the last part she batted her long eyelashes and made one of those mock cutie faces. They laughed.

Aria recovered first "Yeah I honestly had no idea robots could swim." She took off her clothes and got into the shower Mikaela had left the shampoo in.

"Neither did I."

After turning on the shower Aria replied, "Though he didn't look to happy about doing it."

Mikaela laughed, "I could see why. Sam's dog peed on Ironhide's foot a few years ago, and he's still not over it."

The two girls conversation went from angry wet robots, to Aria's broken rib, and then somehow to what they were doing when they got home. Turns out they were both going to head straight back to work as soon as they did. Apparently Mikaela was a body shop mechanic from South Gate California; Thus the amazing tan and car knowledge.

They left the bathroom together and sauntered back to their bunks where they discovered Leo and Sam yapping away about weird male things. Aria managed to interrupt and asked if they ever see the transformers during their regular lives.

"Well," Sam piped up, "I hear that the NEST base in Diego is shut down at least for now. Lennox was talking about moving base to Washington, but I don't know if that's what's actually going to happen."

Aria looked thoughtful. So now these alien robots where going to live in her city? That meant if the Decepticons decided to attack, she was screwed. But at the same time, it made the possibility of seeing them that much more. As she had thought earlier, maybe the base needed a janitor; no matter how embarrassing, she would do it if it meant seeing these "Autobots" more often. Sure they were big and scary looking, and not to mention fifty percent of their bodies were weapons of some sort. But Aria wanted to know everything about them; _including their favourite color._

Maybe she would find Lennox today and ask what she had to do to become a part of these robots lives. But of course she hadn't seen him for days. Perhaps he was in the upper parts of the bridge where she wasn't allowed; typical.

"So do you know if the base in Washington would be permanent?" Aria tried, but couldn't keep the excitement out of her voice.

Sam shrugged. "I have no clue."

Mikaela looked thoughtful while Leo looked perplexed as per usual.

"I hear we're going to be home by tomorrow afternoon." Aria stated, changing the subject.

The three of them smiled at no one in particular.

"Yeah finally!" Mikaela sounded relieved. Leo and Sam agreed with her nodding.

The four of them talked for a while longer before saying their goodnights and climbing into their bunks. Mikaela and Sam decided to share one tonight complaining that it was too "cold". What a terrible excuse, Aria would have come up with something much more clever; like one of the mattresses spring's broke... Then again, she guessed that her excuse wasn't that much better.

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Aria's eyes shot open, this was it: the day she got to go home. The janitor practically jumped out of bed, unfortunately her back injury inhibited ninty percent of the action. It must have been early because the three other teenagers where still blissfully sleeping away. Personally, Aria had no idea how people could sleep in when they knew there was something important happening the next day.

The janitor reached under Mikaela's empty mattress to retrieve the brush they shared. She took it with her to the bathroom along with a few other vanity items they had gathered. Once there, she got ready as per usual. Today she decided to wear the white dress she wore the day she met Jetfire. It was a long and hard process, however, in the end she did manage to remove all the stains with bleach and other countless chemicals. She had lost the ribbon that tied around her waist; luckily the white dress looked fine without it. Her hair was parted in the center as per usual. Aria liked it because it set her apart from almost every other girl; plus she liked the way her long chin length bangs framed her face that way.

Aria hummed while she checked herself out in the mirror from different angles, she had never been overweight, but thanks to the malnutrition she was quite slim now. She knew it was shallow to think; but she was happy about it. Fixing her hair for the umpteenth time, Aria decided to pay the robot aliens a visit. Sure they were scary as hell; but who knows if she'd ever see them again. She did know however, that if she didn't, she'd regret it the rest of her life.

The hanger was illuminated by its usual yellow lights when Aria arrived. There were a few crew members here and there, tending to the planes disbursed around them. A few of them nodded at Aria as she made her way past them towards the back of the deck. Sure enough, there was a row of vehicles ranging from a Beat to a Peterbuilt. She approached them slowly; not knowing if they were asleep.

Aria was answered when the silver Corvette to her left spring to life revving its engine. It spun its tires on the asphalt before doing a tight u-turn and stopping sideways right in front of where she would have been seconds ago, if she hadn't turned around screaming. For good guys, they sure did enjoy being mean.

The Corvette revved up once again and flew past the running girl. It hit the brakes skidding to a sideways halt inches from Aria. She screamed again and turned to run the opposite direction, but this time the pain in her back became too much and she ended up landing on her butt, facing the gorgeous car. Its passenger door cracked open.

"Hey pretty lady, wanna go for a ride?" Asked the car's radio suggestively.

For a moment, Aria was thoroughly confused before realizing it was the robot who was speaking to her. "Err, why?"

"I just thought attractive human females liked attractive cars."

It was odd talking to a car; none the less one that called her an attractive female. "Well yeah…uh, sure," she stuttered out. Aria got up and hesitantly touched the car door. She didn't know if she was allowed to touch it…him, whatever. Plus it was a_ really_ expensive looking car.

"Well come on," the radio teased; the Corvette's engine purring.

Aria felt the door move under her hand, opening further. Taking a breath she got in as fast as she could, which was still pretty slow because of her awkward movements so she wouldn't strain her throbbing back.

"Looks like someone's hurting," came the radio's smooth voice.

"You got that right," Aria responded through clenched teeth. How long was this pain going to last?

The door shut silkily beside her. The car then became animate with an unnecessarily loud roar of the engine. Though Aria was sure the car was going at least eighty up and down the hanger swerving to avoid aircrafts and humans alike; it was the smoothest car she had ever been in. It hardly felt like it was going thirty. After about five minutes of joy riding, the Corvette stopped as it neared the others of its kind. Sideswipe, as Aria remembered, had even opened the door all the way to let her out.

Though they had no conversation during the ride, she already felt more at ease near him. He just happened to be a show off that found someone to show off too.

When Aria exited the silver car, she was shocked to see all the Transformers at once become their true selves. Now as they all stood side by side, their height differences became obvious. The Prime was the tallest by far, not to mention he had a superior stature compared to the rest. Next was the medic; Ratchet, followed by Ironhide, Jolt, Sideswipe, Bumblebee, then the twins; Mudflap and…uh, Skidz. Aria had asked Sam and Mikaela multiple times to clarify who's who of the giant metal aliens.

"You can't help but make a spectacle of yourself can you, Sideswipe?" Came a gruff metallic voice.

Aria turned to see Sideswipe behind her looking rather arrogantly towards the black armoured robot. "At least I'm nice enough to talk to the female."

Ironhide glared back at him, "I've talked to the girl before."

Oh good, Aria thought, they were competitive.

"Introductions don't count." Sideswipe leered.

The sturdy robot growled in response, "Why you little punk!"

They both turned to face each other directly; getting ready to pounce.

"**Enough you two**." Aria looked back at the Prime, he sounded much like he did the day before when he lectured her. Even so, Ironhide and Sideswipe obeyed without a word and resorted back to glaring knives at one and other.

"You got so told," piped up the red twin, Mudflap. The Prime only had to glance at him before he put his metal hands in the air and backed away from the others.

It was Ratchet who finally addressed the janitor. "How is your _vertebrae_?" He bent down and scanned her again.

Aria smiled trying not to laugh at his vocabulary. "It's still pretty sore."

The towering red and blue robot bent down on one knee as well to better look at the girl. "Are you injured?" he asked sincerely.

She nodded but it was Ratchet who answered the Prime. "She damaged one of the bones that make up her chest cavity."

The Primes glowing optic eyes flickered back to her. They looked teal in the yellow tinted light. Unlike all the other robots, he brought his face close to hers to get a better look at her while he spoke. "Is it a curable condition?" He turned his gaze back to the Olive coloured medic robot.

"Yes, it should take about two weeks to heal completely. Under the circumstances she does not do any strenuous activity." He gave her a scrutinizing look.

"Yeah, yeah!" Aria exclaimed, exasperated.

"Good," the medic said tersely.

Aria sighed, it was now or never. "So are you staying in Washington for now on?" Her voice sounded innocent enough.

The prime nodded, "As far as we understand; Washington DC is our new home."

There she goes again; that voice was just too much for her. Was she always going to get goosebumps when she heard the Primes voice?

"I see," Aria tried not to sound too happy about it. The Transformers where going to live in her city! She knew there where perks to living in the capital of the United States, but who would ever imagine this; well other than those strange avid comic book readers.

"It is to my knowledge that you also reside there." The Primes voice sounded, surprising the girl.

She was going to question how he knew this, but decided against it. He probably put two and two together when she told Ratchet she worked at the museum while he was behind her. "Yes. It's a nice city." Good job, Aria. Way to sound like an idiot.

The Prime merely nodded. "We will arrive there soon"

Aria smiled, "Yeah you guys will like it there."

The small green robot looked up. "Anything cool to check out there?"

"Well it's the capitol of the United States, so I would assume so; at least for people. I don't know what you do in your spare time though…" What did they do? Aria often saw them talking to the soldiers and each other, other than that they seemed to always be in their car forms.

"We race," Sideswipe stated like she was crazy for not knowing.

Ironhide growled. "No we do_ not._ We stay where we're told."

"Just because you old timers have nothing to do, doesn't mean us youthful bots have to sit and do nothing with you all day." Was the silver robot trying to pick a fight?

"Sideswipe," The Prime stood to his full height facing him. "It is not a wise idea to start a fight with Ironhide simply because you have too much energy. We will resume training soon enough."

Ratchet spoke up, "And the humans would not appreciate you destroying their ship."

Ironhide and Sideswipes glowing eyes never left each other. "I assure you," the taller black robot snarled, "that the fight would be over long before this punk ass could even raise a cannon."

Aria covered her mouth trying to stifle a laugh, he was funnier than Jetfire.

"What are you snickering at, **_punk_**?"

She laughed off his threatening tone, she hadn't really noticed the first time; but _punk_? Who says that?

Ironhide gave her one last death glare before muttering something and transforming back into a Topkick. He drove away rather loudly.

"You taught him well, Optimus," it was Ratchet. "Usually he'd try to kill the human."

That shut Aria up.

"No," the Prime corrected. "He would only threaten to kill the girl."

Laughing again, Aria looked up to their faces, "I've noticed that's happened a few times now."

The giant robots all looked down at her. Aria suddenly closed her mouth feeling suddenly nervous. Oh god, they didn't understand woman humour. Where were all the girl alien robots anyways? "Uh, I'm going to go eat now…Bye!" Before any of the Autobots could respond she half jogged half hobbled away.

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It was just past noon when a loud horn sounded throughout the ship. Aria along with the other three teenagers, jumped at the sudden loud noise. The lounge they were currently sitting in seemed to bust to life seconds later. The crew and soldiers nearly skipped out of the room chattering as if it was the end of the day bell at school. Aria didn't blame them; she felt the same way. They were finally,_ finally_ home.

"Come on!" Mikaela urged, already getting up to leave. Aria awkwardly stood up after the two boys had already joined the younger girl. The three of them waited apprehensively for her.

"Yeah yeah, I'm coming!" She exclaimed exasperated.

Upon reaching the flight deck, the four of them found the entire crew of the ship along with countless soldiers. They covered most of the deck while many still crowded the narrow walkways on the bridge. They were all waving to the people on the shore only meters to the ships right; most of them women and children cheering and waving back.

There was a small jolt as the massive aircraft carrier came to a halt. The engines then shut off, putting a stop to the hum and small vibrations in the floor that seemed unnoticeable the instant before.

Aria yelped at the sudden contact of Leo's arms embracing her. "Oh my god Leo! That hurts, let go!" She hollered at him over the cheering of the crowd.

He quickly let go, "Sorry, sorry! I forgot, ok? Don't hate me, I'm just happy to finally get off this ship!" His voice went from apologetic to excited in a heartbeat. Aria didn't blame him.

They both looked to see Sam and Mikaela randomly making out. "_Oh la la_," Leo cooed; Aria gagged a little. Kissing was gross.

It seemed like an hour before the entire plethora of men had crossed the dock onto land. Lennox had spotted them in the mean time and told them to stay behind until everyone had left the area. They might as well get comfortable; because the crowd wasn't getting any smaller any time soon.

Sure enough they were back in the lounge area two hours later. Apparently they were leaving with the transformers that night. Aria however, had no more patience with the situation. "Ok, that's it!" She said shortly gaining the other three's sudden attention. "I'm going to find Lennox and tell him I have animals and bills to worry about! I literally can't afford to sit her when there's perfectly fine taxi's twenty meters away!" Aria stormed off as dramatically as she could, which ended up making her look like an old lady holding her hunched over back in pain. But she was cool; a gimp on a mission.

Aria climbed up the ladder painfully slow and made a loud sigh of relief when she reached the hanger. She spotted the usually silent blue robot conversing with the NEST captain.

"Hey!" she called to the blurry man. He turned to face her; however, she couldn't make out his face.

"Aria? What's up?" He sounded genuinely concerned. Maybe because she was walking like an eighty year old.

"Can I go soon? I really need to get back to my starving animals." Her dark eyebrows etched together.

He sighed, "No, people will want to know why there are bare foot civilians _limping_ off the dock."

"Come on! No one will even notice me; they're all too busy visiting to even care."

"No," the soldier repeated firmly. "There's no way I'm letting you-"

"I'll take the girl."

Both the man and Aria turned to look at the tall blue robot, mouths a gape for different reasons. The janitor took a breath to say something. When no words would form, she exhaled defeated. This robot barely acknowledged her existence before; and now he was offering her a ride home.

"Don't encourage her…" Lennox glared up at him.

This time the Prime himself stepped in. "It would be less obvious to the humans if a car left the ship as opposed to a young female."

"And I am aware that animals taken in as pets are highly dependent on their owners." Ratchet joined them as well.

Lennox raised his voice at them, "No we don't need any more attention that necessary!"

"Come on man, let 'er go." Came the small green robot's voice.

The captain opened his mouth to protest once again, but was interrupted by the Prime. "Then it is decided." His voice was authoritative like none other.

"What!" Lennox looked baffled.

"Jolt will take the girl, and return here once she is home safely." He nodded curtly at the shorter blue robot.

The humans exchanged bewildered looks as Jolt transformed loudly beside them. Aria brushed her hair out of her face and turned to get into the blue vehicle.

"Don't you get into that car…" Lennox warned.

Aria shot him an innocent smile and waved before she leapt inside. The car sped off instantly, leaving the angry Captain behind. Aria had to resist hollering at the pain in her back. At this rate, she was never going to heal. But at least she was finally going home; the srange rusty orb in her hands.

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Well this is the end of the transformers! Say bye bye, cause now on this is going to be twilight!

NOT!

Anyways.. I must confess that I did indeed forget about Jolt until 2000 words in. I felt soo bad, that I decided I will love him for now on! As for Arcee, she is dead to me. Sorry but yeah, that's how it's going to go down. :P The next chapter will probably be out by friday night (my time) so review or I will not post! Mwahaha, so if you love me, review! ;3

Also I know Aria having Jet's spark is a little "morbid", but she doesn't know that.


	9. Sirius

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The ride with Jolt was pretty uneventful. As Aria had predicted, no one seemed to notice the blue Chevy drive off the dock and onto the main road.

Aria had to shift her position several times in order to find a comfortable spot for her back. She was thankful for the leather seats that gave her better support than any of the ship's chairs had. It was defiantly a pleasant change.

"Are you alright?" came a metallic voice from the speakers.

The janitor looked around before answering, "Yes, I'm fine." Could he see her? "Thank you for taking me home," she added shyly.

A deep laugh sounded from the speakers, "No problem. I'm still new to this planet, so it's nice to sight see."

"Oh," Aria raised her eyebrows interested, "How long have you been here?" She shifted yet again.

"Less than one earth year," Jolt stated, "The vastness and diversity of this planet seems endless to me."

Aria beamed whole heartedly, "Isn't it? I love it so much! Just wait till you see where I live."

Up until now, Aria had told the car to follow a secondary highway around the huge city.

"Why is that? Should I be concerned about you living quarters?" The radio sounded worried.

His passenger laughed, "No no! I just think you'll like it, that's all."

"Ah, sorry. I understand."

Aria waved a nonchalant hand, "Don't worry about it."

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It took about an hour to Aria's acreage from the Navy base. She had almost cried when they turned down the final gravel road that led to her home. It seemed like she had been away for years, when in fact it had only been eleven days. The only difference was the now yellow leaves fluttering from the tall trees around her property. Finally they pulled into her drive way, not a moment later a black and tan coloured dog burst from the bushes barking madly at the intruders.

Aria climbed out of the blue volt, opening her arms to the fast approaching canine. "Sirius!"

The Doberman pinscher stopped just in front of his owner opting to lick her face in excitement. Aria contentedly stoked him in return before embracing her dog completely, cooing him.

There was a loud sound of rushing air and rotating metal from behind the young girl. She turned to face the blue alien robot, wiping her now wet eyes. Before she could say anything, her dog ran up to him barking and growling. He even attempted to bite the tall robots leg. Jolt simply shook the small dog off.

"_Sirius_," Aria warned, "come here."

Her dog calmed down and returned to his owner, still eyeing the robot and growling.

"Good boy. Jolt is a nice robot, you be nice to him or else he won't ever come back to visit us." She gave the dog a stern look. The dog stared back up at her, tilting his head slightly.

Jolt laughed, "It will take more than a small canine to keep us away."

Aria shrugged, "What if it was a small _Decepticon_ canine?"

"What?" the robot now tilted his head in confusion.

"Just wondering."

"Not even a fleet of flying Decepticon canines could keep us away," Jolt nodded matter of factly.

Aria frowned at the mental image. She wondered if there actually were flying robot dogs.

"Anyways, I must report back to Optimus now. Perhaps we will meet again." He transformed back into the Volt, causing the Doberman go into another barking fit.

After Aria quieted him down she stood back up to bid goodbye to her new acquaintance. "Thank you again for driving me home. Feel free to come back anytime," She smiled at the car, "can't say I've ever said that to a car before…"

The vehicle shook as if it was laughing.

"Anyhow, drive safe!" She called.

Jolt rolled out of her gravel driveway before turning onto the road and speeding off; so much for her last statement.

Aria turned back to face her small two level house. It seemed more beautiful now than when she first bought it. She gave a content sigh and sprinted bare foot past it, heading straight towards the small pasture. As she approached it, she heard a distinct whinny from each of her horses. They galloped to the fence closest to their owner, their coats glistening in the sunshine. Aria ran straight up to the Thoroughbred and Appaloosa before giving them each a big smooch on their noses. The Thoroughbred named Azimuth, had a beautiful tan coat with a black mane and tail. Her elegant Appaloosa was a purely white horse, named Zenith.

It took Aria a lot of will power not to jump up on one the buckskin's back, but she knew it would hurt like hell if she tried. Instead, she opened the gate and entered the field to check their trough and pond. As she suspected, the trough was empty. Fortunately the pond was still full of fresh water, just a few more hoof prints around it than usual. Deciding that the horses would be fine drinking from the pond until her back was better, she made her way back to the barn back beside the gate.

Aria slid the heavy door open a crack before slipping inside. Upon entering she realized that sooner or later she had to buy hay and straw for her equine pets. Winter was fast approaching, and she didn't want anything to be cold or hungry. Aria laid her head back on her shoulder and moaned. Why did it have to be so bloody expensive?

There was an agitated snort behind her. Aria whirled around to see a slender white horse face peering at her through the narrow opening. She laughed, "Yeah yeah, I'm getting you some oats!"

The cement barn floor was mostly bare, in exception to the corners where she kept her tack, treats, and any other horse related equipment. Her dad had bought her a beautiful dark leather western saddle as a Christmas present a year ago. The other lighter saddle was a present from her grandma when she had bought her first horse –the one currently eyeing her for treats- three years ago. Her entire family knew that she spoilt her horses as if they were her children. To be perfectly honest, they were Aria's children. She talked to them about all her problems, rode them, loved them, and cared for their every want ans need.

Aria filled a small bucket with a few handfuls of oats, and grabbed a brush before heading back out. The two horses were staring at her eagerly, neither making a move. "Well," she asked, "who's first?" Instantly both horses responded to her voice. The trotted around her nipping at each other until the winner was established. Azimuth was much younger than Zenith, but that didn't stop the gelding from trying to take over. Zenith however, had no intention to lose either. In the end, it was the older Appaloosa that got to go first.

While Aria groomed her white horse, Azimuth, her buckskin, took to grooming her. He nipped at her shoulders and hair while she brushed the other horse's long forelock. The whole time she smiled and hummed various songs. It was so nice to be home where she could sing her heart out.

Sirius, the janitor's loyal dog, was lying in the tall grass on the opposite side of the fence. Aria figured he was probably pretty stressed while she was gone. It was after all, the first time she'd been gone for more than a day without him. She figured Sirius had been at the neighbours for the most part, since he did come running from their house. Thankfully they were the very dog breeders she'd bought him from, so she knew he was safe there. Maybe tomorrow she would make them something to eat as a thank you.

After she was finished brushing and feeding both her horses, Aria headed back to her house. Upon walking up the stairs to her front deck, Aria realized that she had no keys. They were in her purse, in the change room, at the museum. It took her a lot not to scream right then and there. Shortly after her small episode she noticed she had left one of the full length windows open beside the door. "_Way to go, Aria_," she muttered to herself, "_why don't you just invite the burglars in while you're at it._"

She fiddled with the screen until it came loose, then glided inside. She placed the screen back in the window and closed the silky ivory curtains over it. Aria took a deep breath as she turned around to face her living room. It looked exactly the same as she had left it almost two weeks ago.

The sage green walls lining the room glowed in the natural light, while the oak floor still had a sheen though covered in a thin layer of dust. Her two white loveseats surrounded a small TV against the wall. The adjacent wall was covered with a large bookshelf in exception to the corner, which had a small desk and comfy chair. The books ranged anywhere from _Meteorology_ to _Lord of the Rings_.

Aria sauntered over to the phone. She typed in the password before listening to the messages.

_"Hey Ari, Its mom. How are you honey bunny? I'm just wondering where you are, call me when you get home! Ok, have a nice day, bye!"_

The machine beeped.

_"Aira, answer your god damned phone! I'm going to be driving by sometime this week so you'd better be home if I drop by. Anyways, talk to you later."_

The girl laughed at her father's gruff tone. He hated it when she didn't answer the phone. Since her dad was a truck driver, he was never really around, but he'd always stop by whenever he was in the area.

Aria made her way into the kitchen to have some lunch. Opening the fridge, she saw that various food items were mouldy. Grimacing, she located them all and threw them into the garbage. In the end Aria cooked some scrambled eggs and toasted a piece of bread. While she ate she wondered why her boss didn't call her or even leave a message. Perhaps the government already made that call. She could imagine his voice though, _"Uh, Aria, I was wondering if you knew who tasered all the gaurds, smashed up the Udvar center, and stole the Blackbird. Anyways, call me, soon...Please. Uh, Bye." _She laughed.

As she had predicted, the day before a soldier approached the four teenagers asking them to sign a few papers. One of which was an oath of silence.

Once Aria finished her lunch, Aria fed and watered Sirius before she made her way upstairs to have a shower and have a nice long nap. She turned on the shower and climbed in shortly after the water warmed up. The selection of different shampoos and soaps looked nothing less than amazing. By the time Aria had finished; she was sure she had used some of everything. Wrapping a clean towel around herself, she gazed out the floor length window. She could see her horses grazing some ways away in the pasture.

Aria's quaint room was only steps away from the bathroom door. She smiled entering it; this was her sanctuary. Her queen size bed was half covered in a white duvet just the way she had left it. She drew the long ivory curtains over the large windows across from her bed. She then put on a fresh pair of panties and a tank top before adjusting the covers on her bed and climbing in. Fatigue washed over her almost instantly. Aria let the visions of the Transformers run through her mind as she laid there. She saw Ironhide's scowling face, felt the breeze of the Prime transforming, heard Sideswipe cat call her, and imagined the smell of Jolt in his car form.

They were so different, yet she just couldn't get over how similar they were. Other than the fact they were huge and made of metal; they acted just like people. They even had their own personalities, hopes, and probably dreams too.

But that Prime, he stood out even more than the rest. Aria thought that it was perhaps because he was the leader, or maybe it was the way he spoke. Honestly she didn't know, but she did remember the way they looked at each other the first time on the boat. Like neither of them believed in the others existence.

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Short chapter! Sorry guys :P So Aria's dog is not named after sirius black off HP, sirius is the name of the "dog star" which happens to be Orion right hand dog. Azimuth and Zenith are also astrology terms. (Aria has a wee bit of an obsession lol)

Thanks to my reviewers! I lovvee you x10000! And guess what! Transformers is out today! I'm currently downloading it off ituned in HD :D so excited!

So who do you guys like better? Mikaela or Carly?


	10. Somebody Stole the Blackbird

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Aria tried to push away whatever was trying to kiss her. "I don' wanna," she mumbled and turned over in her warm bed. She was about to doze off again, when there was a sharp bark. Shooting upright, Aria suddenly felt disorientated. Wasn't she supposed to be on an aircraft carrier in the middle of the Atlantic? Perhaps it was all a dream. Perhaps she hadn't even gone to work that day. She felt her heart sink; the robots were only a figment of her imagination. It was then when she noticed the throbbing pain in her back. It was the best pain she ever felt. It meant it wasn't a dream; she wasn't crazy. She had experienced teleportation, aliens, war, and a hurricane. Wanting to further prove herself, she lifted her arm to see the tender pink skin of her almost healed wound.

Sirius barked again. Facing her dog, she kept smiling. She was thinking about the giant robots she had met. "_Aren't they awesome_?" she randomly exclaimed to the canine.

She's slowly got up, and made her way to her dresser across the room. She slid open the top drawer and rummaged around for a clean shirt and bra. Upon finding one she closed the drawer, and return to her bed to get dressed. The shirt she chose was a pale rosy pink color, it happened to be one of her favourites. After putting on her shirt and bra, she then picked up a pair of white jeans from beside her bed, pulling them on as well.

The process took longer than usual because of her back. But for once in her life she didn't feel rushed. She had even slept in! Her alarm clock stated it was twelve thirty, making her intended cat nap into a twenty three hour coma. Apparently she had been more tired than she thought.

Today she decided to make a pie for her neighbours since they took care of her dog while she was gone. Maybe she'd make a nice cup of hot chocolate while she was at it. Aria never did like overcast days like today, the mood was too dreary.

After making her way down the stairs, she opted to turn on the TV. Instantly the discovery channel flashed onto the small dusty screen. Aria turned up the volume when it mentioned the word "black hole".

"Sirius!" She called, opening the back door. Moments later a black streak flew outside. "Don't you go running off!" She called to the Doberman. Before closing the door, she decided to go check on her apple tree. Aria slipped on a pair of coffee colour flats and headed outside. The apple tree was near the back of the pasture, so she had a bit of a walk ahead of her.

All together her property was eight acres, the pasture making up five of them. Sirius joined his master at the wooden fence. As soon as Aria closed the white gate behind her, she was surrounded by all three of her animals. As usual, she stopped and showered them all in affection. She got lost in her own thoughts about the Transformers.

Next thing she knew, she was swinging herself up onto her buckskin's back. Broken rib or not, she wanted to ride her horse. And no one, or thing, was there to stop her. "Azi, I swear to god, if you so much as try to run…" she hissed at the equine.

Azimuth let out a sharp exhale of air and shook his long neck. Aria grasped his mid length mane and gave him a small kick to send him off back into the field. The Thoroughbred attempted to run a total of three times before they reached the lone apple tree. Aria, however, had none of it and gave a sharp tug on his mane the second he had acted up.

She gingerly slid off the tall horses back and walked around him so she was under the tree. The apples looked fairly new, so she picked one and fed it to Azimuth as a test. The horse ate the entire apple in one bite, pieces falling from his mouth as he loudly chewed. Aria laughed, "So I'm guessing it's good?"

Something nudged her shoulder. "Oh, you want one too, Zen?" she teased the elegant white horse lipping at her messy hair. She reached up and picked another ripe apple, then held it under his mouth. Zenith chewed it much more gracefully then the other, younger horse.

Aria plucked a few more apples off the tree for her pie before attempting to get back on Azimuth. Getting on a horse with a broken back was one thing; but getting on a horse with a broken back and holding three apples was another.

While she rode back, a particular song popped into her head. It wasn't the first time she thought of it in the past week, she wasn't going to question herself about it either. She just sung the catchy tune out loud knowing no one was around to judge her.

Coming back inside she saw the black hole program was over and was now playing "Mythbusters". She watched a bit of it disappointed, she wanted to learn more about the process of spaghettification… Aria found herself wondering if she had been spaghettified when Jetfire decided that they needed to go to Egypt. Maybe he created some sort of worm hole by distorting space, which she thought might act the same way as a gravitational pull on matter. Of course it would have to only have been to a small extent, or else she would be a single strip of matter at the moment. She giggled, what a silly term; _spaghettification_.

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Aria sauntered over to her neighbour's house, pie in hand, dog at foot. As per usual, she had made a huge mess in the kitchen. She just couldn't seem to grasp how to pour flour without getting it all over the counter and floor. It took her a good half hour to clean up. At least the pastry was still warm in her arms, she secretly hoped they would let her have a piece. Apple pie was one of her favourites, only beaten by Cherry…and chocolate, of course.

She strode into their driveway and was immediately overtaken by various dogs, barking at her and sniffing her feet, legs and best of all; her crotch. "Get away," she hissed at them. They paid no heed, continuing to assault her. Sirius was growling and nipping at them protectively. Unfortunately the mass amount of dogs barely noticed his threats. Some of the younger, poorly trained canines, tried to jump up on her. Aria almost dropped the apology pie she had lovingly made. She may have booted a dog or two off, but she would never admit to it.

Her neighbours must have heard the commotion and came outside to greet their overwhelmed guest. "Oh, it's Aria!" Exclaimed the lady to her husband.

"Hi, Debra!" Aria tried to smile and look up, without tripping on the smaller dogs surrounding her feet.

Dawn, her husband, now came outside while calling all his hyperactive dogs off Aria, while Debra practically jogged over to her. The dogs almost instantly turned their noses and ran towards the tall and skinny, middle aged man. The top of his head was bald, but he still had a line of wispy brown hair framing it. Debra on the other hand, was the complete opposite of her husband. She was short and rather chubby, but had a beautiful head of ginger hair cut into a sophisticated bob. She wore her usual brown blazer and matching pencil skirt. Aria adored the woman's style.

"Aria, where have you been? We were about to call the police!" Debra placed both her palms on Aria's cheeks, looking distressed. "You were kidnapped weren't you?" She looked cross.

"No no!" Aria breathed out exasperated. "Well actually, yeah." Where was she going with this? She had not planned this visit very well.

Debra looked mortified. "What?"

"I was arrested." She lied bluntly. As much as she wanted to say, "Oh yeah, a giant robot transported me to Egypt where I almost got stepped on, fell off a cliff, flew in a Blackbird, almost got blown up, and then spent a week on an aircraft carrier surrounded by men and metal aliens. You know, nothing too eventful."

Debra's jaw dropped none the less.

"Not like that!" Aria sobbered, "Somebody stole the Blackbird from the museum, and I was held as a primary suspect for awhile. I just got released yesterday when they figured out that I wasn't involved."

The neighbour looked plain bewildered now. "Somebody_ stole_ a Blackbird? I heard about the museum being closed, but I didn't think that would be why." She shook her head, "_How does someone steal a Blackbird_?"

"Beats me," the janitor shrugged, "it was gone before I even got there." She cleared her throat awkwardly. "So," she paused, "Thanks for taking care of my dog! I made you a pie!"

Dawn approached the two girls, beaming. "Oh good, my favourite!"

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In the end, Aria stayed for a couple of hours just talking to the plesent couple. They also insisted that she have a piece of the pie she made for them, "to test it," was Dawn's excuse. Aria attempted to keep the conversation as far away from the past week's events as possible. When they brought up traveling to Egypt as a vacation, she was quick to change the topic to the weather.

Aria was now lounging on one of her loveseats, examining the strange piece of metal she took from Jetfire. She meant to ask the robots about it back on the ship. Unfortunately the hurricane caused her to completely forget about inquiring. Remembering it was warm when first picking it up, she wondered the function it had. It must have been some sort of metal organ, or at least something similar to it. Then again, she didn't think robots even had organs.

She rotated it in her hands, what could it be? Looking crestfallen, she put it back on the side table. Perhaps she would wash it, or put it in a case. For sure she would ask the next time Jolt came. Aria shook her head, like Jolt would come back.

Sam had said they're hard to keep away once you got to know them. But had she really? She talked to them a couple of times, and managed to be lectured by the Prime. She guessed they probably weren't quite on the visiting level yet. Sighing she reached over to the phone and dialled a number. It rang a few times before someone picked up.

"Mark speaking," came a business toned voice.

"Hey, it's Aria." The janitor replied meekly.

"Oh there you are!" the voice exclaimed. "What the hell happened? I get a call saying the place is trashed and you and the Blackbird are missing! Next thing you know, they have the freaking military and some _sector eight_ guys are there asking questions!" He paused to breath.

"What did they tell you?"

"Wha- what did they tell me? I'll tell you what they told me. They told me that our SR-71 Blackbird is actually a_ robot in disguise_! Can you believe that? Can you?"

Aria though he was about to lose it, if he hadn't all ready. "No, that's crazy," she breathed, not knowing what else to say.

"Crazy? No. You wanna hear crazy? Crazy is when I hear you clock into work, and I find out your in Egypt the same day!" he took another breath, "With my Blackbird." He added harshly.

"I'm not allowed to tell you anything," Aria sputtered out. Oh god, she was going to get fired. So close to her dream job, she thought, so close.

"I'm aware of that. That's why you're going to be here first thing Monday morning to prove yourself head janitor and do your job!" He yelled the last part.

Nodding frantically, Aria said a quick "Yes sir."

"And if your late…so help you god, you will be fired in a instant. Dream job, poof, gone. Just like that."

"Yes sir."

"Good," there was a click. Aria let go of her breath. Only a threat, thank god. Her boss had a short fuse, and he did love his Blackbird. She could relate now though, it was her new favourite too. And what was more? She flew in one too. She looked at her dog smugly, "He's just jealous."

Sirius just tilted his head.

"Yeah yeah, I know. I'm nuts. No need to rub it in."

He barked.

"Fine," Aria got up, "let's go outside."

The sun finally started peeking out from behind the seemingly endless blanket of clouds. Aria filled up a watering can while Sirius ran off chasing a poor unsuspecting rabbit. She had a small flower garden on the right of her porch steps. Most of it was taken up by lilies, but there were a few rose bushes in the back, as well as some daises here and there. Of course none of them were blooming, that time came and past. But Aria still enjoyed watering them. It was one of those things that you do because you like doing it.

There was a loud rumbling sound coming from down the gravel road. Aria looked up tying to see though the trees at the large oncoming vehicle. The sound of crunching pebbles under tires got louder as a semi turned into her driveway. Aria hastily put down her watering can and ran her fingers through her dishevelled hair before walking up to it.

"Daddy!" She exclaimed as the engine cut and the door swung open.

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Bet you thought it was OP, didn't you? ;D

Next chapter will be longer I promise, but I have some serious studying to do! So I'm gonna say Wednesday. But only if you lovelys review!


	11. Prada

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After having a long and somewhat awkward conversation with her father, he left rather abruptly. He had told her he needed to get back on the road or else he'd miss his deadline or something like that. Aria figured that he was actually just upset with the fact that she wouldn't tell him where she had been for the past week and a half. Part of her really wanted to tell him, but she knew that if the government ever found out; she'd go to prison for high treason. And she couldn't tell him that either, she was scared to think about his reaction just for that alone.

Aria could tell already that this "_non disclosure agreement_" was going to harder to agree to than she had anticipated. Of course even if she hadn't been forced to sign it, who would believe her? Apparently the events that took place in Egypt had sparked a lot of controversy around the globe. The government obviously denied any alien presence, but that just seemed ridiculous to her. The media was all over what was going on and doing all they could to prove it was aliens that made the worldwide broadcast, not just some board super nerd. Personally, Aria didn't see the original Decepticon message, though she was familiar with it now considering it was on the news on a daily basis. The world seemed to revolve around the possibilities of extra terrestrial beings now. It was a nice break from the vampire craze at least.

However, some people had it figured they were simply out of control military experiments. The government neither accepted nor denied this. How very typical.

Aria lay in her bed now, just thinking. It had only been a day since she'd last seen the Transformers, but she missed them already. It was weird though, she always wanted to see them, but when given the opportunity, she got unbelievably nervous. Perhaps she was simply terrified of doing something stupid in front of them. She didn't want to make a fool of the entire human race because she did something embarrassing or stupid. Aria realized that these were in fact what made humans, well humans; but that didn't mean she could act like she was an exception. Then again that theory had already been compromised a few times due to her unintelligent past decisions.

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Weeks passed with no sign of Jolt, let alone any of the others. Other than a few brief interactions with her neighbours and work, she had been alone.

The Udvar Center recently replaced Jetfire with another SR 71 Blackbird. Aria did not like it one bit. She felt offended that the space center replaced the ancient Decepticon turned Autobot for some plain, run of the mill supersonic jet that happened to share the same name. Why couldn't the government just tell them?

"I don't like it," Aria said flatly. She stood in front of her boss's desk, her arms crossed.

Her boss, Mark, peered up at her from his paperwork. "Well that's just too bad."

"Can I get promoted to cleaning the actual museum?"

"Not with that attitude," he snorted.

Aria frowned, "It's incredibly difficult to pay off four years of student loans from attending Harvard University with a janitors pay cheque."

"Well last time I checked, you applied for it."

"That's because you refused my resume for lack of social skills. I was hoping to get a promotion about a year ago. You know, since I know more about space than your entire staff combined." Truth was, she just missed the senile robot whenever she looked at his pathetic replacement.

Mark raised his eyebrows, "Cocky now, aren't you? That's unusual, I haven't heard your Harvard guilt trip since you first started."

"Well if I knew I was going to be a janitor for the rest of my life here, I would have become a veterinarian." Aria matched her boss's look.

"To work as a tour guide here, you need more than just brains. Looking good is ninety percent of it."

Aria sat down in one of the chairs beside her, crossing her legs. "You're implying that I'm not good looking enough?"

"No no! no no no," he shook his head and raised his arms defensively. "Perhaps if you did your hair, put on some makeup, and maybe dressed up a bit more. That's all I'm saying."

"Believe it or not I do." She leaned forward. "Just the uniform's mandatory, and I see no point in looking good for the security guards and space artefacts."

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Aria got off early that day. She dedicated her life to working at that museum, and this is how's she get repaid? Harvard was not easy to get into, and even harder to get passing grades. She almost gave up several times, and would have, if it wasn't for her parent's encouragement and her competitive personality. Her studies had completely robbed her of a social life, the closest she had to friends where her study buddies. They were probably making twice as much as her right now. She sighed, adjusting herself in the city bus seat. If she knew her social skills and superficial appearance were the things holding her back, she would have gone to some fashion school. Apparently any good looking bimbo with a passion for stars could work at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. She leered over the fames of her glasses at the bloke staring at her across the bus. He instantly looked away embarrassed. Why couldn't hormonal men keep their eyes to themselves? Oh yes, the hormones.

After a long walk from the bus stop, she finally made it home. After letting out the dog and checking the horses, she flopped onto her loveseat and flipped on the TV. Surprise, surprise, the news was currently broadcasting the President's speech, denying the presence of aliens. Aria couldn't help but roll her eyes.

She reached over the metal sphere to grab her laptop. The screen flashed on reviling the Washington times web page. Since she came back, she was bent on finding out where the secret NEST base was. According to Sam, it was indeed in Washington. Unfortunately, to say it was huge was an understatement, and finding a top secret base wasn't the easiest either. As per usual, nothing looked too out of the ordinary. Then again what was she expecting? "News flash, robot spotted in Washington", yeah not likely.

Aria happened to look up to see a person being interviewed commenting on increased activity of military vehicles going down Independence Avenue. Eyes widening, she rushed to turn up the volume, managing to knock the remote on the floor while trying to do so. By the time she looked back up at the TV, the screen showed an aerial shot of Independence Avenue. Sure enough there were multiple military trucks headed into a tunnel by the Department of Health and Human Services.

No way that was it, this had turned out easier than she just thought. It was so obvious now. Of course they would choose such a public government building. No one would ever suspect it to be housing enormous alien robots and countless soldiers within its walls. She had to go there and find out for sure; it was time to put on her big girl shoes. Big girl, as in Prada; and shoes, as in pumps.

Aria dashed upstairs and into her room. She pulled out a formfitting black pinstripe dress from her closet, all the while humming an upbeat tune. After pulling it on and zipping up the back, she pranced over to the mirror on top of her dresser to do her hair. Aria decided to put her hair in a low bun, leaving no hair to frame her face. Next she put on some tinted moisturizer, blush, winged eyeliner and some lip gloss. Instead of her usual eyewear, she reached for her thick rimmed oval framed Prada glasses. With a spray of perfume and red heels in hand, she made her way outside and down the road.

During times like these, Aria really wished she could afford a car. However, that wasn't happening anytime soon. She knew that could also lead to unnecessary weight gain. The walk to and from the bus stop was pretty much her only daily form of exercise. She started to hum, while her bare feet crunched through the last of the fallen leaves. The overcast sky put her in a bad mood that morning, but her spirits where bright again knowing she found them; the Autobots.

Aria waited in front of the Crossfield Elementary School for the next bus. She was getting nervous now; she had to figure out how to get them to allow her access. And if the denied her any information, which she knew they will, she would take matters into her own hands.

The sound of the bus pulling in brought her out of her thoughts. Aria smiled at the bus driver, he had been driving her to and from work since day one.

"Forget something at work?" The elderly bus driver asked.

"No, I'm going to Department of Health and Human Services." Aria stated while taking a seat near the driver. She took the opportunity to put on her red peep toe heels.

"Well that explains why you're extra pretty today." He glanced back at her for a moment, smiling.

Aria bit her lip and looked down. "Thanks," she mumbled. She hoped she didn't look too over the top.

After she got off the bus, she took a train to the downtown Washington area. It was another long walk from the transit stop to the Department of Health and Human Services building. She hastily adjusted her hair and dress while heading towards the main doors. The clicking of her heels echoed throughout the main foyer as she walked towards one of the many front desks.

A middle aged lady with blonde hair tided back in a neat ponytail looked up at the janitor, she didn't bother to smile.

"Health and Human Services, how may I help you?" She said in a rehearsed tone.

"I'm here to attend the Medical Technology conference at three thirty today." Aria really hoped her plan would work.

"A bit early. Name please." The lady drawled while shuffling though some paperwork, probably looking for the attendance list.

"Amanda," she tried to sound disdainful.

"Johnson?"

Aria could have jumped for joy. Luck was on her side today. "Yes." She kept her external composure.

The woman held out a clip on name tag making no eye contact. "Fourth floor, room thirteen ninety-six."

"Thank you."

In all honesty, Aria had no clue about the conference today until she saw a man on the train reading the daily paper. I had been purely coincidence that the article happened to be facing her. If she believed in fate, this would be it right now. Something must have wanted her to see the Autobots again. Even the chance that she chose a name actually on the list, not to mention that the lady finished Amanda's name, instead of asking her for confirmation.

Aria now walked down the hall brandishing her false nametag on the left side of her chest. It was only one forty-five at the moment, so no one would be worrying about her rushing to the conference. She had plenty of time to meander around and search for hints of the military's presence.

Obviously they wouldn't be doing anything to draw attention to themselves, though that didn't mean they couldn't be sneaking around the building. Her best bet was to find someone fitting the description and following them at least to the general part of the building that they were hiding in.

Aria had the feeling that finding these men was easier said than done. First of all, she had never been to this building. Second of all and more importantly, it was huge. Sure there were only four or so floors, but they seemed endless none the less. She felt like she was a mouse in a maze as she began sauntering up and down hallways lined with countless doors. At least said doors where generally made of glass, with narrow windows beside each one. They revealed the beautifully designed, modern looking offices behind each one. Aria would love to have a fancy office like that, but the jobs that required them where far too boring for Aria's taste.

About an hour later, she was found walking past a waiting room on the third floor. It seemed the higher the floor, the more the people she came across. To her pleasure, some of which were exhibiting some rather suspicious behaviour. More than once she observed various men looking around anxiously before briskly walking away. So far they appeared to be headed in the same direction. Aria made up her mind to follow the next person who acted similarly.

Sure enough, she saw a man in an expensive looking suit looking around dubiously. Aria held back a smirk, she found her victim.

The man merely glanced at her passively before turning away from her and heading down the hall, Aria now discretely following. She continued to tail the man though various hallways, keeping enough distance to remain unsuspected. Her nerves became apparent to her when she adjusted her glasses; her hand was shaking ever so slightly. Her thumping heart was another dead giveaway.

Aria rounded another corner, only to see the man enter an elevator. She backed against the wall before he turned to press the button. Catching her breath, she opened her eyes to see a woman looking at her funny as she walked by. Aria gave her a nervous smile and nod before acknowledging the woman. "Whoa, almost fell over there."

This caused the lady to raise her eyebrow further as she passed by and down the hall Aria had came from.

The janitor rolled her eyes, was everyone that worked here a total snob? Now back on task, she glanced back at the elevator to see the light above disclosing the man had stopped on B2. Aria couldn't help but vocalize her disdain. Of course there was a basement. And of course it didn't cross her shallow mind that it was the most obvious place to hide giant robots.

After pressing the B2 button on the elevator, Aria rested her head against the glass wall behind her. Maybe she should have taken the stairs. She was probably going to be questioned the second those elevator doors opened to the basement. It would confirm her suspicions, but put an abrupt end to any further action.

The elevator made a dinging noise before opening to a dimly lighted small room seeming made of plywood walls. To the left there was a gap in the plywood to fit a high chain link gate. There were two heavily armed soldiers. Aria gave them a small smile trying to hid the trepidation she truly felt. These guys made the snooty lady in the hall look like a goddess.

"You are not authorised to be here." The one on the right stated firmly.

Aria laughed nervously. "Oh, I must have pressed the wrong button. Silly me, sorry to bother you." Good job, Aria, way to act stupid.

"No problem Ma'am," the other soldier stated, "have a nice day." He bade her before the elevator closed once again, taking her back up.

"Yes!" She squealed, she had found their top secret Washington base. Aria hadn't failed to notice the NEST emblem on the two men's sleeves. She supposed they could be at least a bit more discrete, but at the same time, the general population was sadly misinformed to the robots entire existence.

Yet again, the elevator made high pitched ding before revealing the first floor. She walked across the foyer towards the closest desk, which also happened to be on the opposite side of the woman who originally gave her the name tag. This lady actually retuned Aria's smile.

"I just wanted to return this before I leave." She unclipped the visitor tag reading "_Amanda Johnson_", handing it to the much friendlier looking lady. Her face now held more confusion than anything else, but she took it all the same.

"Oh," was all she said in response.

Aria smiled at her again. "Thanks, have a nice day."

With that, she turned and exited the building, her new found determination overpowering the soreness of her feet as she made her way down the adjacent sidewalk. Eventually she came upon a seven foot chain link fence blocking the driveway down below the building. The only gate in was guarded by two more heavily armed soldiers bearing NEST badges. Though Aria expected it, she was still far from pleased.

Part of her wanted to walk straight up to the men and inform them that she wanted to see the Autobots, and that she had witnessed the battle in Egypt, and that she could even name them all if she had to. Unfortunately, the other much more rational part told her that she was stupid for even entertaining the first thought of doing so.

However, the question still remained: How was she going to get in?

Once again fate seemed to act on its own accord when Aria noticed the gate opening as an intimidating looking Topkick appeared from below the building. Aria could have screamed in excitement.

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Sorry guys, tests took over my life last week! Hope you enjoyed it none the less, thanks for the awesome reviews! Keep them coming :)


	12. Idiopathic Craniofacial Erythema

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Realizing the Topkick wasn't about to stop, Aria immediately began to jog to the nearest intersection. She didn't know how she was going to get his attention without drawing unnecessary attention herself. The clicking of her heels sped up even faster as the Topkick stopped at a red light mere meters ahead of her. Anxiety now over powering her want to be secretive, Aria waved her arms at the truck in the calmest fashion she could muster.

"H-Hey!" She stuttered before raising her voice. "You in the truck!"

The light turned green, but the alien robot in disguise didn't move; he must have heard her. Aria used the driver side door as a brace to stop herself. Placing both palms on the window she tried to catch her breath. Her heavy breathing was from a mixture of exasperation and relief. Aria leaned back from the truck as the heavily tinted window rolled down a crack. A gruff voice boomed out.

"Get in." Was all it said.

Aria didn't need telling twice. She rushed over to the passenger side before pulling open the door and climbing in. She was thankful that no other cars were behind him, and that the security guards seemed more interested by a half naked woman walking past them. When Aria was satisfied with her seating arrangements, she hastily put on her seatbelt.

"You're lucky I stopped," the radio stated. "I barely recognized you wearing footwear."

Aria opted to smack the dash board in mock anger. "Oh, shut up! You're lucky I recognized you, being a rather plain looking black truck." She now raised her head in order to gaze down her nose disdainfully at the radio which snorted in response.

"Autobots don't transform into "plain looking" human vehicles. We only take the forms of the best. Except Jolt." He added as an afterthought.

"Poor Jolt, maybe he just wants to fit in." Aria laughed.

The Topkick made no comment. Aria took the opportunity to change the subject. "So where are we going?"

Ironhide's voice snorted from the speakers. "We? I don't recall you being invited fleshy."

So this was how it was going to be. The robot would be sure to criticize her at every possible opportunity. Maybe that's why she liked him; his contemptuous sense of humour would keep her on her toes.

"Alright trucky, where are _you_ going?"

There was a pause before the robot in disguise answered. "To pickup Colonel Lennox from the Pentagon."

"Thus why we are turning into the parking lot." Aria said more to herself matter of factly as she looked out the window at the geometrically shaped military building. Between them and it however, was a check stop. The janitor opened her mouth to voice her concern, but a metallic voice interrupted her.

"Uh oh, looks like you're going to have to bail. On the count of three, Ready?" He then started counting down. "Three…"

Aria felt mortified, was he seriously considering she would jump out of a moving truck? And even if she did, the guards would still see her rolling down the road mere meters from them.

"Two…"

And her clothes weren't the cheapest either for that matter. Actually, they were quite expensive; and that didn't even count her shoes and glasses. Oh god, her glasses, these were her best, favourite and most expensive pair! No way in hell she was going to bail.

"One, time to get out." Ironhide's voice was far from serious.

Aria wiped the look of trepidation from her face and replaced it with one with a tad bit more confidence. "Nope, that's a stupid idea."

"Yes but it would have been funny," the robot alien's voice stated. They had passed the gate without so much as stopping.

Once again Aria harshly planted her hand on the dash. "I don't think we can be friends," she hissed at him through her smile.

"How will I go on?" Ironhide's rather mocking laugh echoed around her.

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About half an hour and several arguments later, Aria spotted Lennox approaching the Topkick. She quickly straightened her back and lifted her chin while crossing her legs. "Ten bucks he won't recognize me." She mumbled to the truck.

"I don't believe in gambling," the speakers muttered back.

The NEST captain swung open the door getting in and shortly greeting the robot. It wasn't until he was already in and closing the door that he noticed the girl's presence. His first reaction was to freeze and stare at her in complete and utter shock. It took him a full three seconds to gather himself and attempt to question her. He had just opened his mouth when a look of realization dawned on his face.

"Aria!" He blinked a few times. "Is that you?"

She frowned. "No I'm her good looking twin. Nice to meet you."

The speakers rumbled with a chuckle. Lennox however, did not look the slightest bit impressed.

"Ironhide," he growled. "Why did you bring her?"

"She jumped in front of me in the middle of the road. I had no choice; she threatened national security if I didn't let her come." The robot lied blatantly.

Aria's mouth dropped as she furrowed her eyebrows. She turned from the radio to face the man beside her. "I did not! I didn't threaten anything!"

"You ran straight into me."

Aria scoffed. "You where waiting!"

They both ignored the Colonel's bewildered and slightly angered look while they argued. Aria then sharply turned from the radio to look the Colonel in the eye. "He's lying! I was just looking around the Health and Human Services building for the NEST hide out, and when I went outside I saw him!"

"Wait, How did you know our base was there?" Once again he looked shocked.

Aria sent him a disbelieving look. "The news. It's pretty obvious, thanks to the increased military action nearby. Not to mention when I went down to the basement, two soldiers with NEST badges told me the floor was off limits.

Lennox's eyebrows furrowed further as she spoke. "How did you get inside of the building in the first place? Civilians aren't allowed in there."

"Mostly luck," Aria shrugged. "And superior observation skills," she added.

The Colonel simply nodded his head. "I see," he mumbled.

"The girl isn't as unintelligent as she looks." The speakers rumbled.

"Apparently," the man agreed dully.

Aria sent him a fleeting glare. "I didn't go to Harvard for nothing," she huffed.

Lennox seemed to not hear. "Where do you live?"

"Why?"

"Because Ironhide's going to take you home."

Aria stared him straight in the eyes. "I'm not going anywhere until I see them."

The Colonel groaned. "Is that what this is about?"

"Yes, it is."

"What if I say no?"

"Maybe I will threaten national security." Aria stated though narrowed eyes. No way she would actually do it, but she wasn't about to back off. She was so close to seeing all of the transformers, the Prime; his flickering blue eyes...

"No you're not." Both Lennox and the speakers responded.

Threatening had never been her thing anyways. "Please!" She began to beg, "I miss them! I'll do anything!" At this point, she wasn't kidding; she was ready to go bungee jumping if she had to.

Lennox gave a heavy sigh. "Fine. They could probably use some female intuition."

"Thank you!" Aria practically yelled, giving the Colonel a huge grin.

"Just don't make me regret it."

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Shortly after their conversation, they arrived at the top secret base which was actually a large building partially attached to the Health and Human services building. Upon entering Aria instantly noticed the familiar vehicles neatly parked in individual bays, various soldiers scattered amongst them. Aria jumped out of the Topkick before it stopped moving, further back she had spotted Jolt and Ratchet talking to each other.

The military base was rather large, even for giant robot stndards. The large entrance lead into a long hangar, the only difference was that it was occupied by cars rather than planes. At the very end was a tall bridge like walkway adjacent to the long walls leading to it. As Aria approached the two metal giants, she noticed a certain flaming Peterbuilt parked off to the left in the nearest bay to the bridge. It took her a lot more than she thought to avoid staring at it, her heart must have begun beating faster from her rising anxiety.

Aria's clicking heels seemed to draw the attention from every soldier around. From the corners of her eyes she noticed at least half of them actually stopping to stare at her. You would think after seeing alien robots, woman just wouldn't be as impressive; apparently not.

Now just a few meters away from the conversing mechanisms, Aria was rethinking approaching them. Using her interrupting them as a personal excuse, she swiftly turned back towards the approaching Colonel. Pehaps she should have taken more communications corses instead of becoming an introverted science nerd.

"Ah, Aria is it? I can't say I've seen you for a while." Aria recognized the voice right away; it was the alien medic. She stopped mid step and turned back to face the two robots now looking at her.

Upon making contact with their glowing eyes, Aria's voice seemed to disappear. "Er…" what was she suppose to say again? It took a moment for her to compose herself before she attempted to speak again. "Yep, that's me," she paused again. "H-hi!" Her voice sounded higher than usual.

The lager olive coloured robot turned to address the smaller blue one. "The girl seems nervous," he stated.

"Perhaps your sudden statement stunned her momentarily," Jolt inquired. They both nodded at each other before turning back to the janitor who felt slightly confused and excluded.

"No she's just a wussy," came Lennox's loud voice from behind her. Aria sharply glared at him as he came to a halt beside her.

Ratchet leaned closer to them, a look of confusion on his metallic face. "What is a wussy? I'm not familiar with human slang." Before Lennox could answer, the four of them turned to look at the sturdy black armoured who was approaching them.

"It means the girl is a coward," he stated before smirking down at Aria.

Aria was now fuming at both the man and the robot. "I am not a wuss!" She yelled at no one in particular. She then faced the Colonel ready to give him a piece of her mind. "And I'm guessing your first few times meeting them was any different? I think we should all sit down and have a nice cup of tea while getting to know each other better!" She looked up at the black robot. "So Ironhide, what kind of tea do you prefer? Oh wait, you're a giant robot from a different galaxy however couple billion light years away." She looked back at Lennox with a raised eyebrow waiting for a comeback from the man.

"What is tea?" Jolt asked.

"Point made," Aria said flatly.

The three robots looked slightly confused while the Colonel kept a straight face. Aria was about to walk away when Lennox put a hand on his face trying to hide his smile. He was trying not to laugh! Aria clenched he jaw; biting back any more unnecessary comments.

"Your pretty funny kid," he said regaining himself.

Aria huffed. "I'm twenty four and a half."

"Don't get too offended," Lennox gestured to the robots above them. "Compared to these guys, we're all kids."

"Well because of the difference of our planet's laws and theirs, physically yes, they are older than us. But I have a feeling that our age ratio isn't that different."

"What?" The man looked confused.

"Well let's say on the planet Cybertron, Jolt is twenty two and we also assume he acts like one from our planet. If we then convert that to earth years; he becomes three hundred years old to us. Figuratively speaking, of course. I'm not at all aware of how you define time and space on your planet. Nor do I know your life spans, or rate of mental development." Aria took a breath. "But if there was a course on it, it would definitely be my major." She nodded.

"You wouldn't happen to be interested in this, would you?" Lennox asked sarcastically.

"If you want, I can lend you my Astrology thesis."

"I'm sure it's fascinating." Lennox rolled his eyes.

Aria smirked at him. "Yeah you right, too many big words." She let out a laugh at the sight of his frown.

"That's it, you're under arrest for disrespecting a federal officer." Lennox pulled out a pair of handcuffs from a pocket on his belt while giving Aria a sadistic smile. Her eyes widened before she squealed and ran as fast as her heels would let her towards the Peterbuilt, Lennox easily gaining on her.

"Prime, save me from this evil man!" She yelled dramatically in between her heavy breathing and laughing. Instantly the familiar sound of hydraulics releasing air and shifting metal echoed throughout the hangar. Aria stopped running, completely forgetting the present situation. She was completely transfixed by the phenomenon of the Prime's transformation. Again the cool breeze blew past her face and body; it felt amazing.

Seconds later the Prime stood at his full height look between the soldier and the janitor. When the towering robot's glowing blue eyes met her bright hazel ones, Aria's quickly pacing heart skipped a beat. Neither of them seemed to want to break contact, if anything, she wanted the massive robot to bend down so she could look closer at his strange optic eyes.

A rather loud 'ahem' broke her from the Prime's trance. They both quickly turned to look at the Colonel who was in turn giving them a sceptical look. "Am I missing something here?" he asked.

"Colonel Lennox," the Prime greeted seemingly ignoring his question. He then looked back down at Aria. "I trust you are well?"

Such a simple question became so much more when spoken by a thirty foot alien leader. And not only was he that, he was her saviour. From what she gathered, it took a lot to get them to swim. Aria flashed the Prime a white smile before answering, "Yes I am."

"And your back is repaired?"

Aria's smile only widened. Was it weird that she found the Autobot leader endearing? Maybe it was his genuine concern, or maybe the way he talked. She guessed she'd figure it out eventually. "Mostly, it's still a bit sore at times though."

"Human bodies seem like such frail things, but can take vast amounts of damage without causing death." While he spoke, the Prime looked at her thoughtfully before bending down on one knee and leaning closer to her.

It was getting difficult for her to pay attention to what he was saying. She wanted to, but her mind was more focused on taking in the Prime's superior stature. Every part of him attaching to another like a complex puzzle that could never possibility be solved by even the most intelligent human. She couldn't seem to get over the fact that she was talking to a robot hundreds of years older than herself. A being that has travelled across time and space; and of all planets, ended up right here on earth, in front of her. That cliché line of 'I'm the luckiest girl in the world' just became her new favourite. Meeting the Autobots, the Prime and even Jetfire, other than Sam's girlfriend Mikaela, she was the only one. "It just depends on where we are injured. Not to mention our improving healthcare. It wasn't long ago we were all dying from infection after surgeries because we didn't know about single cell organisms."

A muted laugh came from behind the Primes closed metallic lips. "Your sense of humour is different from the other humans I've come to know."

Aria felt her cheeks heat up at the deep sound radiating from him. "I don't get out much," her eyes met the linoleum floor.

The Autobot leader leaned in closer causing Aria to look back up at him. The Prime's eyes were narrowed in confusion. "You face suddenly became red, are you unwell?"

That one caught her off guard, was she actually blushing in front of the great Autobot leader? Surely it was from nervousness, not those pointless little emotions little girls feel when they see the boy they like. Aria didn't feel that way to anyone, especially the Prime. "Oh no, I'm fine!" She chirped in a higher voice than usual. "I suffer from uh, Idiopathic craniofacial erythema, so I blush at everything," she gave a nervous laugh._ Nice excuse Aria; give yourself a random blushing medical condition._

The Prime's face must have been only a meter away from hers now. She could see faint scratches lining the plates that made up the features of his face. Avoiding contact with the robots optic eyes, she took interest to the symbols carved on to the blue plates that framed his metallic jaw. It took her a moment before she realized that he had said something.

She looked into the Prime's glowing eyes about to ask him to repeat himself, but the words got lost somewhere in her throat. He was looking directly back at her. She could see the subtle adjusting of the round metal around the glowing ring in his eyes, much like the adjusting of a pupil. The parallels in their anatomy were astonishing, and Aria wanted to know everything.

Her senses retuned when she noticed the Colonel approaching. "No it's not dangerous Optimus, she's just trying to impress you with her fancy scientific vocabulary."

Both Aria and the Prime jumped back at the sudden loudness of Lennox's voice. Aria took a few steps back, while the Autobot leader straightened his back remaining on one knee. The Lieutenant Colonel laughed. "I'm not interrupting again am I?"

"No no no, we were just talking." Lennox however didn't look at her, instead he put both hand up and started backing away. Aria followed his line of sight up to the Prime only to see the massive robot glaring back down at him. She wondered why the Prime would look at Lennox like that; they had never seemed hostile to each other before.

Lennox turned to address at her. "Aria you have to go now, the Autobots have a meeting in an hour." He came to a stop beside her.

Aria frowned, she hadn't even had a chance to talk to all the Autobots yet. "Alright," her eyes met the floor, "will I be able to come back some time?"

Lennox sighed. "I guess. But next time you're going to have to go through clearance, no more ambushing Autobots and threatening national security. Here," he handed her a card from his chest pocket. "Call me next time you want to visit."

"Of course!" Aria threw her arms around the much taller man. She released him from the hug keeping her hands on his shoulders. "Thank you!" She beamed at him.

"Just don't make me regret this either," he stated with a small smile on his face. "Optimus, would you mind taking Ms. Normandy home?"

"Yes," he nodded before beginning to transform back into the Peterbuilt. Aria tried to observe how each piece fit back together, but it all happened too fast for her to comprehend.

Aria slowly sauntered over to the passenger side of the truck glancing back at the Lieutenant questionably once she got there. He sent her a reassuring nod before she climbed up the steps to the passenger door. Aria opened it and crawled inside using the seat and door handle for support, as she sat down she looked around the interior.

"Wow, you make my dad's truck look like a piece of crap!" she exclaimed.

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Try not to hate me too much, I've got a tonne of midterms D: so I don't have much time to write. Hopefully some prime time will help make up for it! Don't forget to review guys! I love to hear from you!


	13. Mr Prime

Forgot about me?

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"Were do you reside?" Came a deep voice from the speakers, finally breaking the rather awkward silence. Neither of them had said a word since Aria's short comment nearly ten minutes ago.

It wasn't that Aria didn't want to talk to the alien Peterbilt, she just didn't know what to say. It was hard enough to talk to giant alien robots, but talking to the giant alien robot _leader_, that was truly nerve racking.

"I, er live…" oh god, where did she live again? "Uh…" she must have sounded like such an idiot right now, who forgets where they live? "Down Aintree Lane in Herndon, Virginia." She sputtered out rather loudly. Good, she wasn't a total lost cause.

"Understood," the voice rumbled shortly.

That alone confirmed it for the janitor. Surely the Prime thought she was nuts, but then again so did most people. How many people steal identities to sneak into privet buildings just so they could see some aliens they've met only once before? Not many.

Then she went and begged the Colonel on top of that, so he probably thought she was crazy too. Not to mention all the men on that ship, laughing at her while she stumbled up and down the halls. At first she made sure to tell everyone she saw that she lost her glasses, but after about the second day blind, she gave up. Not like she was going to see them ever again anyways.

And on top of all that, she fell off the ship, literally fell over the railing. Who falls over the railing anyways? Oh yes, the blind janitor who had been forcefully transported across the world via grandpa Blackbird. And of course who saved this blind janitor? An wet, angry, Peterbilt, also known as Optimus Prime. The Autobot leader.

Aria groaned letting her head hit the back of the seat as she looked forlornly to the canopy.

"Are you alright?" his deep voice sounded genuine.

She sighed, "just waiting for lightning to strike me down."

"But there are no clouds," the Primes voice sounded vaguely confused.

Aria laughed. "Now you see my problem," she stated matter of factly.

There was silence. She could have slapped herself, this was the Autobot leader and she was making sarcastic remarks! He was probably contemplating pulling over and kicking her out onto the highway for her disrespectful attitude. Aria didn't blame him of course, if she were him, she'd kick herself out too.

Now she had to figure out how to apologize for her behaviour, which would be a lot easier if she even knew how to address him. All the humans referred to him as Optimus, but the robots called him Prime more often than not. They we're his friends and comrades though, he knows them, and they know him. She was merely an acquaintance, if even that.

Although she remembered Jetfire always calling him "the great Prime" and so on and so forth. That was a little too regal for her taste. But she had to try something even if it would either make or break their acquaintanceship.

"Prime…" she started slowly, a look of sheer apprehension across her face. She had called him that earlier, but she wasn't thinking that time. She was too busy running from Lennox.

There was a pause. "Yes… Is something the matter?" His tone matched hers along with added confusion.

"Thank you for saving me." That wasn't so hard.

"You where just lucky. I had just been thinking that I needed to cool off. You just happened to be in the water at the same time."

Aria stared straight ahead, her mind processing what the Prime had just said. She had to admit, it was taking longer than usual for her to comprehend. He wasn't being serious, and it didn't sound sarcastic, so that only left humour. She smiled. "Ah, I see. I must be lucky then," she nodded. "Though I can recall your expression quite well, and I don't remember you looking very refreshed."

"I said I wanted to partake in swimming. Diving, however, is a different story."

"Oh, well sorry for sinking then. I swear I didn't mean to."

"Seeing as I did not rust, you are forgiven, Ms. Normandy."

Aria laughed. "Ms. Normandy?"

"Then call me Optimus," the speakers rumbled light heartedly.

He would allow her to call him Optimus? Did that mean he thought of her as a friend? So he didn't find her strange behaviour annoying, that's a relief. "No," Aria stated thoughtfully.

The Prime hummed in confusion.

"I shall call you," she paused for a dramatic effect, putting a pinkie finger to her lips and making her best Dr. Evil impression, "Mr. Prime."

"You are an intriguing one," the Peterbilt commented.

"I'm just joking," Aria smiled.

Once again silence filled the air, though this time it wasn't as awkward as the first. Aria was relieved the Prime at least had a sense of humour. At first it was hard for her to think a mighty leader of an alien race would have one, it was nice to know that she was wrong about that. And that was saying something, since Aria did not like being wrong.

"Your appearance has improved greatly from when we last met."

God, what a voice he had.

Wait, what? What was that suppose to mean? Aria couldn't figure out if that was a statement or a compliment. Aria's face twisted in confusion. She had taken psychology courses in university, so she knew basically how humans thought, but who knew how these aliens did. They seemed to act and think much like humans, but in reality, it would be wrong to assume so.

The Autobot leader must have seen the bewildered look on Aria's face, because he attempted to correct himself and breaking Aria from her thoughts. "Healthy, I mean. You appear to be in much better condition than on our journey home."

Aria felt slightly relieved that it was in fact a statement than anything else. "I didn't get much sleep on that ship, not to mention my lack of sight made me look like an idiot."

The speakers rumbled with a deep laugh. "Is that why you fell?"

An embarrassed smile made its way to Aria's features. "I wish, but no. That was sheer stupidity at its finest."

"And have you learned from that experience?"

"I'm not going near another railing for the rest of my life!" She wasn't kidding either. It was right up there with meeting a Decepticon.

"Good, because I may not be able to save you next time."

Did that mean that if he could he would? Aria wished human men were this sweet. Unless of course her mind was talking what the Autobot leader was saying the wrong way completely. But somehow she doubted that.

"What about you? You look a lot better than a few weeks ago too."

There was a pause before the Prime answered. "My body has healed."

"That's good," Aria smiled. "You didn't look so great back in Egypt, well until Jetfire gave you his armour. Then you looked pretty awesome." She pictured him standing beside the Sphinx. "Not saying you don't look awesome now, my father would die if he saw you. He knows his Peterbilts, and you by far are the coolest looking one yet."

"I look cool?" Was all the speakers came up with. Perhaps the Prime was not aware that even in truck from he was making a statement.

"Yes very," Aria confirmed the unsure Autobot leader.

"Thank you, Ms. Normandy." She could hear the light heartedness of his voice.

Aria played along. "You're welcome Mr. Prime."

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Shortly after Aria and the Prime reached the end of the forty five minute drive from the NEST hideout to her house. Aria instructed Optimus to turn into the last driveway before the dead end.

"So this is where you live," the Peterbilt mused as they pulled up her gravel driveway. It's beautiful out here"

"Yeah, I don't like all the noise and pollution from the city. This way I can at least get away from it once and a while." She moved to Washington immediately after University, and thanks to her good marks, her parents helped her buy this house just out of the capital.

Just then Aria's overprotective Doberman, Sirius appeared from behind the house. He barked madly at the unknown Semi until Aria opened the door reveling herself to him.

"Sirius! Is that necessary?" She scolded while carefully climbing down the Peterbilt's steps. Almost as soon as both her feet made contact with the ground, a loud noise sounded from behind her. The semi was transforming.

Out of habit Aria took a few steps away from the reconstructing alien before turning around to admire the anomaly. Only a second later the Prime stood before her. Sirius attacking at his feet.

The janitor couldn't help but be a little worried about the Autobots height, sure the trees that surrounded her property were high, but was he higher? "Maybe you should duck down a little," she hollered over Sirius' increasingly loud barking.

"Is this your companion animal?" Optimus asked while bending down to get a better look at the Doberman. He reached a metal finger out towards the growling canine.

"Yeah, my parents insisted I get a protective dog if I was to live alone." Aria laughed as Sirius attempted to bite the Primes finger, when it proved ineffective the dog began barking again. "Sirius!" She scolded the dog, "Would you go away?" Her question sounded more like a command that the dog apprehensively obeyed, opting to sit on the front porch and watch intently from afar.

"Anyways, I told them I could hardly afford a dog at the time. In response my father pulled out a puppy from a random bag and said I didn't have to."

"So he's a protector given from your parents. What must he protect you from?" The metal alien now looked at her, interest visible in his glowing eyes.

Aria had a momentary lapse of cognitive thinking due the intensity of his gaze. She didn't think she would ever get over the fact that she was talking to a robot from a different galaxy, or even the fact he was talking to her for that matter. "He protects me from anything that's unfortunate enough to come into my yard. Mostly small mammals." She added as an afterthought.

"Are they harmful?" the Prime asked titling his looking slightly confused. Sometimes he looked so human, yet when he would stand at full high she could hardly believe that he wasn't some sort of celestial being.

"No, not at all. But that's just his nature, he tried to kill Jolt too when he was here. Sirius' just lucky he hasn't been stepped on yet." She threw a fleeting glare at the sitting dog.

Prime nodded. "I'm sure it was in your parents' best intentions."

Aria smiled back at the tall robot. "Yeah I know."

Optimus stood back up to his full thirty two foot height. "I must take my leave now, though I do enjoy your company."

He enjoyed her company? That was too good to be true. Of course it was just formality, the Prime did seem to value that. "Well thank you for taking me home."

"You're welcome, Ms. Normandy. I look forward to your next visit." With a nod of his head, he transformed back into the most beautiful 379 Peterbilt she had ever seen and backed out of her driveway and down the gravel road.

Aria hadn't moved until the sound of the engine and crunching gavel faded away. To be honest she felt a bit woozy. Perhaps he actually did enjoy her company as much as she did his. Why else would he have been implying about looking forward to seeing her again? He sounded too sincere for his own good. Maybe she was going to visit the Autobots again, if Lennox approved it or not. She knew how to get in, she wasn't dumb.

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Oh my god finally! I have a whole list of excuses, but I'm just going to say don't put a battery on the keyboard of a hot laptop before going to bed. It will melt. But now I have my baby back, and so I can finally get on with my story!

Also I'm slowly re editing the pervious chapters. So if you want to go back and re read to refresh your memory, it should make more sense and have less errors. So far I've done the first four chapters.

Please review to let me know your still around! Love you guys!


	14. Oh, Mother

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It wasn't one minute after Aria made it through the front door before her phone rang. She had just managed to take off her shoes and undo her ponytail before hastily making her way over to answer it.

"Hello," she greeted.

"Hey Aria, it's mom." Of course it was. Today was Thursday, in other words, check up on Aria day.

"What's up mom?"

"Just checking up on my favorite daughter." Aria could hear the smile in her voice.

Aria sighed. "I'm your only daughter."

"All the more reason!" She chirped. "Anyways your father finally made it home and told me about your little conversation. So apparently you're not allowed to tell your own parents about what happened to you?" Her mom tone was evident.

"No I'm not, and I told dad he could call the government to prove it."

"Which we did, and sure enough you were right."

"So then what's the problem?" Aria tried to keep the attitude from her voice.

"We're your parents! You know your secret's safe with us!"

"Mom, you're a part of every book club in Iowa, so I doubt that."

"Oh speaking of clubs, you remember all those beautiful Operas we used to go to?"

At least her mother wasn't pushing on the subject. But this could be equally as bad. "Yes, why?" Aria's voice was hesitant.

"Well you wouldn't believe, but I heard the Aurora Opera Theater is holding auditions!"

"What are you getting at mom?" She was sounding as nonchalant as possible, which was hard since she could feel the terror creeping up on her.

"I signed you up!"

Aria shouted the only word she could think of. "No!"

"What do you mean no? Remember all the fun you had in choir all though high school? You were so sad when you got too overwhelmed in University to take it anymore. Not to mention I miss coming to all your concerts." Her mother sounded more melancholy than anything. Sure Aria loved to sing, but opera? She couldn't see herself in one of those ridiculous Elizabethan dresses singing at the top of her lungs in a different language.

"I know mom, but opera isn't really my thing."

"How do you know? Maybe you'll love it and become famous!"

Aria couldn't help but roll her eyes. "That sounds awesome."

"You need the socialization. No more ifs ands or buts." Her mom's dreamy voice became firm within an instant.

"I don't have a choice do I?" Aria drawled.

"I'll drive you there myself," her mother confirmed, her voice still firm.

"Fine, I'll go." Aria glared at the wall. "But I'm not going to enjoy it." And if somehow she did, she wasn't going to show it.

"Good, it's next Saturday at noon!" Her authoritative tone faded instantaneously. "Call me as soon as you get home!"

"I will," Aria droned.

"Alright! Have a good night you little nerd, you."

"Thanks mom, you too." Aria couldn't hang up the phone fast enough. She immediately turned and dove face first into her couch suddenly feeling exhausted. Her mother was something else, making her audition for the opera. She had a career to focus on, not her mother's ridiculous pipedreams.

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Perhaps the week went by so fast because of the building anxiety Aria continuously felt. Work was at a whole new level of boring, nothing felt the same after everything that happened. At one point, when she could take it no longer, Aria had tried calling Lennox. Apparently the Autobots where out at the moment, at least that's what he told her. Why did everything have to be so damned classified? For all she knew there could be another war going on somewhere in some other foreign country. But Lennox did say he would let them know that she called, though in reality she doubted that. She was just some annoying civilian that knew too much for her own good. Aria wondered if Lennox treated Sam and Mikaela the same way, like they were just a nuisance.

But now Aria had other things to focus on, for example her opera audition that was mere hours away. Her nerves were at an all time high. She had already warmed up her voice that morning and only stopped when her throat started to hurt. She could swear she had some sort of anxiety disorder, she tried reading, then watching the news, then brushing her horses, but nothing could keep her attention for more than ten minutes. Eventually she decided on her most challenging hobby, one that once she started she would have to dedicate her entire being to it. It was a true art and Aria's greatest achievement: mounted archery.

She had set up a set of targets along her back fence, saddled up Zenith, and took off down the fence line, bow hand arrows on her back.

It had been several months since she had last practiced, so her aim wasn't as good as it usually was. After years of archery and riding classes she decided to combine her two favorite hobbies into a single even cooler one. Not only that, it was unique as well.

On her first run she ended up only hitting one target, but by the seventh she had gathered her thoughts and managed hitting all three within centimeters of the bulls eye.

Aria was just getting off her thoroughly trained horse to gather her arrows when the sound of an incoming engine made its way to her ears. She squinted through the far trees in front of her property only to make out that the approaching vehicle was large and black. It was only after going through a hurricane blind, did she truly come to appreciate her contacts. Without those she wouldn't be able to tell even that. Meters away from her, Sirius shot up and was fully alert to the incoming intruder.

Aria couldn't help but feel uneasy about the approaching car, no one ever came except for her mom and dad on occasion, and neither of them drove anything black. Gripping the handle of her bow subconsciously she waited for the vehicle to make its appearance.

However, the second it did, Aria instantly felt dumb for not realizing it earlier. It was a Topkick, also known as Ironhide. She spurred her horse towards the heavy duty truck turning into her driveway. Zenith trotted easily under her while Azimuth followed behind. Aria dismounted at the gate before climbing over and jogging the rest of the way.

Meanwhile the mighty Ironhide transformed into his true self setting off Aria's dog once again. Ironhide however, didn't seem to tolerate Sirius' barking as Jolt and the Prime did before him. Aria was just in earshot to her him threaten her dog.

"If this rodent so much as touches my foot, he will be terminated instantly." Ironhide's metallic face was still twisted into a scowl when he turned his gaze to her. Aria returned the look after calling off Sirius.

"Are you threatening me or my dog?"

Ironhide's line of sight went from Aria's face, to her bare feet, and back up to her bow. He seemed to ignore her question and instead inquired on her weapon. "Are you training for battle?" His blue optics met her hazel eyes.

"Oh no, just practicing." Aria replied lightly.

"That's a relief." The sturdy Autobot sounded relieved.

"And why's that?" the janitor pouted up at him.

"Archery is a primitive form of combat even for your species," Ironhide stated mockingly.

In response Aria drew out an arrow and as fast as she could she strung it to her bow, aiming it directly at Ironhide's right glowing eye. She smirked at his slightly surprised expression.

"You dare point that at me? Even the most advanced human technology cannot penetrate my Trilythium steel armor." He boasted, head high.

"Then what's that scar on your eye from?" In truth it wasn't just his eye, the gash disfigured the top corner of his metal face.

"I assure you, I wear this scar with pride." Ironhide's expression changed into a more serious one when he looked back down at the janitor. "The Decepticon that gave me this was far beyond anything your feeble mind could ever comprehend."

Aria lowered her apparently inferior weapon. "Oh yeah?" She challenged with a smirk, "How big was he?"

Ironhide's undamaged eye narrowed into a glare. "Do you remember that giant Decepticon climbing that pyramid?"

The janitor didn't have to think hard to remember the mammoth robot scaling up to the top of the pyramid. As she recalled, it was solely responsible for destroying the top half of the Egyptian obelisk to reveal the star harvester lying dormant underneath. It was at least the size of a building. "Yes I remember," she replied.

"He was twice his size." Ironhide's optics flicked, staring Aria straight in the eye.

Aria couldn't help but gape at the mighty Autobot. "Did you kill him?"

Ironhide gave a look that vaguely resembled a smirk, though it seemed that like the Transformers, he was unable to actually form any sort of smile. "No mercy," he answered menacingly.

Regaining the control of her jaw, she closed her parted lips. "So if you're so strong, how come I didn't see you doing anything spectacular in Egypt?" She shot him a playful grin.

"I assure you I did my part. I wasn't about to get in Primes way when he obviously had it under control." The Trilythium armored robots scowled back at her.

"Yes he did." Aria couldn't help but smile as she recalled him flying overhead, smashing through the floating blocks of stone. She hardly noticed the frown on Ironhide's face as he looked at her.

Suddenly Aria's face dropped. "What time is it?" How could she have forgotten about her audition today? Her mother would have her head if she didn't make it due to disregard of checking the time.

"Ten minutes past eleven a.m." Ironhide replied without hesitation.

"Oh my god, I'm not going to make it!" Aria's eyes widened even further, it was already too late. The trip would only take half an hour normally. But between walking to the bus and stopping at every station on the way, it would take at least another half hour. Her mind froze. "Wait," she eyed the Autobot, "How do you know what time it is? You didn't look." Maybe he was joking and she wasn't going to be late, though deep down she sincerely doubted that.

"I know a lot of things, time being one of them." Aria didn't need telling twice. She immediately spun and headed straight to her front door. She needed shoes.

"Are you going somewhere?" The robot alien added.

By now the janitor was already on her front porch stepping into a pair of flats and grabbing a bag full of her work clothes. "I have an interview at the Aurora Opera Theater in half an hour that I have to go to." She raised her voice slightly so the Autobot could hear.

"I will take you," Ironhide stated taking a few steps closer. Instantly Sirius was up and barking at him.

"Really?" Aria sent him a wide smile before turning to open the front door behind her, calling her dog in. In response the canine stopped barking and sauntered into the house, never taking his eyes from the robot.

"Damn dog," the robot muttered before looking back at Aria. He nodded, then transformed back into the black GMC he disguised himself as. Aria of course watched intently as he did so, she was convinced that watching them transform was the coolest thing ever.

The Topkick's engine rumbled as she made her way to him. When she stood beside the passenger side door she paused giving the truck a sceptical look. Last time she touched him he made it sound like she committed a crime. "So am I going to offend you if I open the, uh, your door?" She tried to correct herself.

The door abruptly swung open, hitting the janitor in the stomach. Aria gasped in surprise before hearing a familiar voice on the radio.

"Now that you mention it, yes it would." She could hear the humor in his gruff voice.

Regardless, she plopped into the passenger seat and shut the door still pouting. "You're not very nice, Ironhide."

Aria heard a humph before the Autobot continued, "and your easy to taunt."

By now the Topkick had already backed out of her driveway and was starting down the narrow gravel road. The deciduous trees where now painted with the colors of fall, their leaves ranging anywhere from bright red to brown. Something glinted though the foliage catching Aria's attention, but disappeared a split second later. Not thinking too much about it, she returned her attention to the self driving truck she sat in.

"I see you put on footwear," the radio commented.

Aria furrowed her brows in confusion at his random statement. "Well yeah, it's a social norm. I don't want to look like a homeless person."

"Humans are far too strange for my liking. I don't see why Prime defends your species as he does." His stern voice sounded bitter. It was starting to sound like the Autobot may have been having a bad day.

None the less she was offended. "So you hate us because we like to wear shoes?"

"You don't seem to like to," he resorted.

"How do you know?" Aria was baffled

"Superior observational skills." The robot stated. Aria was sure however, that he had copied that from her when she explained to the colonel how she located the secret base just over a week ago.

Out of the Autobots she had met, she had only started to get to know a few of them. Jetfire, though senile, protected her and sacrificed himself for a planet he thought sounded like dirt. The Prime seemed to have all the virtues of a leader, and as Ironhide said, did everything in his power to defend a species he barely knew. Jolt was the silent one, and was rather awkward to be around at first, but offered her a ride home even when Lennox refused her.

But Ironhide was different, she couldn't figure out what his true intentions where. Sometimes he simply teased her, but times like now he sounded no different than a hardened warrior. Perhaps he was unsure of who he actually was. If what Jetfire said was true, and their planet Cybertron was destroyed by war, she doubted their lives where happy ones. And now even on Earth, they fought on. Now they defended humans, having no more of their own to protect any longer. Realization hit her like a wall, what reason did he have to like people, to defend them? Yet here he was, driving her to some audition without any hesitation. Aria's heart grew heavy in her chest.

"You're oddly quiet," His voice broke her chain of thought.

"Why did you come?" Aria's asked delicately.

Ironhide seemed to understand her question. "Your military proved infuriating. Prime suggested I visit you before I blew the base up." The lack of humor in his voice scared the janitor a little.

"Good decision." Her voice was higher than usual. For some reason imagining him blasting the building to bits wasn't that hard to do.

000000

Leaving the theater, Aria's anxiety was now replaced with trepidation. She just made it off the walkway when Ironhide pulled up in front of her and opened the passenger door.

Upon entering the robot immediately spoke up. "I take it your interview didn't go well?"

Aria shook her head, "No, it went too well. They loved me."

"Then why aren't you bearing your teeth as humans do when they're happy?"

Bearing their teeth? "You mean smiling? Because I didn't really want to be in an Opera."

There was a pause. "What exactly is this Opera you speak of?" he said the word slowly.

So the alien robot drove her all the way to the theater without even knowing what she was doing? Aria rolled her eyes. What a guy. "It's a type of singing that very few people can stand. My darling mother happens to be one of the few."

"Do you mean like the strange music Lennox listens to on my radio?" Just as he finished an old Jonny Cash song started playing through the speakers. Aria couldn't help but laugh.

"No, no. That's country. Opera is much different."

The music stopped. "Demonstrate it then." The robot sounded far too serious for her liking.

Her body tensed. "I-" what was she trying to say? This was more nerve racking than the five people that where just judging her minutes ago.

"Are a coward." The robot finished blatantly.

Aria's eyes narrowed, so that's how he was going to be. "Fine then." She took a large breath, and relaxed while she exhaled.

_The light in your eyes an angel of dark,_  
><em>Lighting to ease the shadow side.<em>  
><em>Hearts will grow though having to bend,<em>  
><em>Leaving behind all things in the end.<em>

She could only bring herself to sing a single verse. The song itself was not really Opera, but it got the point across none the less.

"Humph," was the Topkick's only audible response. After that he didn't say a single word for the rest of the ride.

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Thanks for the reviews guys!

Anyways I think there's going to be a lot more Ironhide than I originally planned, like A LOT. But come on, who doesn't love him? I'm still angry at Michael Bay for killing him off.

The verse of the song I used was from the Devil May Cry 4 soundtrack called 'Out of Darkness'

Keep the reviews up!


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